International Criminal Court Convicts Sudanese Militia Leader of War Crimes

The International Criminal Court found a Sudanese militia leader guilty of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity

in Darfur two decades ago, a rare conviction for an institution whose international standing is under threat from U.S. sanctions and sexual assault allegations against its chief prosecutor.

A panel of three judges at the ICC in The Hague convicted Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman of being a commander in the Janjaweed, a feared militia of mostly Arab fighters who terrorized civilians across the Darfur region in 2003 and 2004, in a conflict that left hundreds of thousands dead. Abd-Al-Rahman ordered his fighters to brutalize villages in the region where they engaged in mass rape and killings, the judges said Monday. Abd-Al-Rahman exhorted his soldiers with the phrase “wipe out and sweep away” before they attacked, according to the decision.