Sudan: Darfur war crimes suspect surrenders after 13 years on the run, now in ICC custody

In a significant development in the pursuit of justice for conflict in Darfur, Sudanese militia leader Ali Kushayb, charged with war crimes and 50 offences against humanity, was taken into custody by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday after he surrendered to authorities in the Central African Republic (CAR).

An arrest warrant was issued for Kushayb in 2007, accusing him of murder, rape, and robbery in Sudan’s vast western Darfur region between 2003 and 2004. Ali Kushayb is in the custody of the ICC after he voluntarily surrendered himself in the Central African Republic, based on an ICC arrest warrant issued against him 13 years ago.

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According to prosecutors, Kushayb was a commander of the Popular Defence Forces – a government military, that led numerous attacks on towns and villages during the Darfur conflict. The war witnessed the death of hundreds of thousands of civilians and drove over two million people away from their homes.

Welcoming Ali Kushayb's detention, Human Rights Watch said that victims of Darfur conflict and their families have waited 13 years for this moment.  Elise Keppler, associate director of the group's International Justice Program said that the world was horrified to see Sudan's government unleash brutal attacks on Darfur civilians, by killing, raping, burning, and looting villages, starting in 2003.

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About Darfur genocide

Oppressed by the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum for years, rebels from a central and sub-Saharan African community in Darfur launched an insurgency against President Omar al-Bashir in 2003.

The Sudanese government responded with a scorched-earth assault of aerial bombings, aiming to destroy anything that might be useful to the rebels. The government then unleashed militias known as the Janjaweed, who are accused of mass killings and rapes. As many as 300,000 people were killed and 2.7 million were driven from their homes in Darfur.

Former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, accused of genocide, war crimes, and atrocities against humanity is also wanted by the ICC.

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