Between 2003 and 2004, mentioning the name "Kushayb" was enough to escape the residents of entire villages in the suburbs of Wadi Saleh area in the state of South Darfur, western Sudan, according to an informed source who told Al-Jazeera Net the circumstances of the man's arrest in the grip of the International Criminal Court.
Ali Muhammad Ali Abd al-Rahman, known as "Kushayb" - the most prominent leader of the former regime-backed Janjaweed militia - fled to Central Africa across its border with Darfur last March, after the Sudanese government announced its intention to hand over those accused of Darfur crimes to the Hague-based court. .
In 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2012, the court issued arrest warrants for the dismissed President Omar al-Bashir, former Minister of Defense Abd al-Rahim Muhammad Husayn, former Minister of Interior Ahmed Harun and Kushayb; On charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Darfur region.
According to an informed source in South Darfur, after the fall of the Bashir regime, Kushayb preferred to distance himself in a cellular camp that includes his forces, and he was still hiding in a narrow circle.
He has always been sparse, and has only limited and old photos of him on the Internet, which turns him into a mysterious and frightening character.
Trap options
The same source says that Kushayb had no choice but to flee to Central Africa to surrender to the criminal court, in light of the presence of UN and French forces in the country bordering Sudan, as well as an office of the court prosecutor in Bangui whose mandate is not specified.
He points out that the international forces in Central Africa have very accurate listening devices that enable them to penetrate the Sudanese border by about 400 km, which has enabled them to reach Kushayb.
It is likely that there was a negotiating circle that bridged the chasm between the court and Kushayb, and pushed the latter to surrender in light of the abandonment by his government of his protection and his presence in a foreign country across its borders without a permit.
ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda told the UN Security Council on Wednesday via television that Kushayb is in detention at the seat of the court in The Hague.
Fears
Immediately after the announcement of Kushayb's receipt of the criminal court, there were concerns that the move would include Maj. Gen. Abdel-Fattah Al-Burhan, the leader of the Sovereign Council, on the criminal court's accused list.
Earlier reports stated that Al-Burhan, then the intelligence chief, was responsible for coordinating army and Janjaweed attacks in West Darfur between 2003 and 2005.
In this context, Wasil Ali, a Sudanese journalist based in the United States who specializes in International Criminal Court affairs, said that it is highly unlikely that Al-Burhan, or even his deputy in the Sovereign Council, the commander of the Rapid Support Forces, Lieutenant-General Muhammad Hamdan Daglo "Hamidati" is unlikely.
Wasel assures Al-Jazeera Net that Kushayb could be useful in trying Al-Bashir, Haroun and Abdel-Rahim, but his use of charges against new people will be excluded, given that the criminal court has no resources.
He adds that the role of the prosecution office is to identify the accused most responsible for the crimes, and not necessarily accuse all people of limited resources, explaining that Ali Othman Muhammad Taha, the deputy of al-Bashir and the tribal leader Musa Hilal, was mentioned repeatedly in the request for the arrest warrant without being charged.
King witness
Given the nature of the major crimes facing Kushayb, the dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Khartoum, Muhammad Abd al-Salam al-Azraq, ruled that the criminal court would convert the man from an accused to a royal witness.
In his speech to Al-Jazeera Net, Al-Azraq indicates that the sensitivity of the issue is that Kushayb could provide information and secrets, in the context of his acquittal, which may be dangerous regarding the implementation of orders from the symbols of the defunct regime or even Sudanese army leaders who are still in service.
He says that the chances of defense in front of Kushayb depend on the fact that the man is not a general, because he is merely a helper who reached the rank of assistant and was receiving orders from his commanders who supplied him with weapons and ammunition, as a kind of proxy war that the former regime had always followed.
Al-Azraq is also likely to prompt Kushayb to say that what he committed in the Darfur war was in the context of a tribal conflict, not an internal war.
It is noteworthy that Kushayb (63 years) is accused of committing violations, including: murder, rape, looting and forced displacement, in the villages of Pindisi, Makjar, Kodum, and Arwala in South Darfur State.
Governmental project
After Kushayb became in the grip of the court in The Hague, Al-Azraq warned that the Sudanese government, through the Attorney General and the Ministry of Justice, must draw up a draft that specifies its dealings with those wanted by the court.
He stated that the government of Sudan should answer: Will the accused be extradited to the court in The Hague or will they be tried inside the country according to a special court that includes national and international judges, after providing the required standards such as ways to protect witnesses?
It is preferable that those involved in the Darfur crimes be tried internally, after reassuring the availability of fair trial standards that show that the state is capable and willing, which would drop the jurisdiction of the Hague Court, because the trial of the accused near the victims is better for justice and that gives impetus to the revolution.
On Wednesday, the Sudanese government, Minister of Culture and Information Faisal Muhammad Salih, welcomed the handover of Kushayb to the court.
In a statement, the minister affirmed the government's stated position that it is ready to discuss the issue of bringing the remaining accused wanted by the International Criminal Court, as part of the Sudanese authorities' pursuit of justice for the victims of the war in Darfur as a necessary condition for achieving peace.