The International Criminal Court announced today, Tuesday, that the leader of the Janjaweed militia in Sudan's Darfur region, Ali Kushayb, has been handed over to the court to face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity after he surrendered to the authorities in the Central African Republic.
The court, based in The Hague, said in a statement that "Ali Kushayb has been arrested by the International Criminal Court after he voluntarily surrendered in the Central African Republic based on an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court against him on April 27, 2007."
The court, which particularly thanked the peacekeeping force in Central Africa (Minuska) "for its support and cooperation during the arrest", did not specify whether Kushayb was in the detention center in The Hague or was still on his way there.
In Sudan, a senior government source confirmed that "we were formally notified that Ali Kushayb arrived at the seat of the court in The Hague after he voluntarily surrendered to the Central African government and from there he was handed over to the court and transferred to The Hague."
The court indicated that "the first appearance of Kushayb" before the International Criminal Court "will happen as soon as possible."
Kushayb is the first Sudanese suspect to be extradited to the International Criminal Court. The court issued an arrest warrant against him in 2007, accusing him of fifty war crimes and against humanity, committed in the context of the conflict in the Darfur region of western Sudan between 2003 and 2004, including murder, rape, looting and torture.
The conflict that erupted in Darfur in 2003 killed at least 300,000 people and displaced millions, according to the United Nations.
Prosecutors say Kushayb was the leader of the pro-government Janjaweed militia, which led attacks on towns and villages in the Darfur region.
The United States said the killings there amounted to genocide.
A government source in the Central African Republic said that Kushayb was arrested in the northern town of Birao and sent by air to The Hague on Tuesday morning.
The isolated Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who is currently detained in Khartoum, is also wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity due to the atrocities committed by pro-government forces in Darfur.
And Kushayb, whose real name is Ali Muhammad Ali Abd al-Rahman, until last February he was released in South Darfur state, then he withdrew his bank balances and evacuated his office in the Central Reserve Forces of the Sudanese Police in the "Raheed Al-Bardi" area, then he went to the "Sinita" area, west of South State Darfur, and he disappeared there among his clan and relatives, before leaving the country across the border to the neighboring Central African country.
Darfurian sources were wondering about the reasons for the failure to arrest Kushayb, and to remain at large practicing his work in the Central Reserve Police in western Sudan, without the rest of those wanted by the criminal court arrested in Kober Prison on other charges, namely, the dismissed President Omar al-Bashir, and his right-hand man at the time, Minister of Defense Abdel-Rahim Mohamed Hussein And Minister of State in the Interior, Ahmed Haroun.
Even before his disappearance, Kushayb holds the rank of assistant to the central police riot police in the Sudanese police, which sparked his anger in 2014 and prompted him to threaten the rebellion against the Bashir regime, arguing that he was "wronged" compared to his co-accused accused by the criminal court, as they all held positions. Senior in the government, he remained just a "non-commissioned officer" in the police.
He quoted him as saying in this regard: "Either Bashir will give him the status he deserves, or rebel against him," but civil interventions prevented him from rebelling at the time.
And Kushayb is the only suspect among the government officials who admitted to killing many citizens and using internationally prohibited weapons. He said in a famous recording in the "Umm Dukhun" area near the Chadian border: "I have a cannon here. If I fire one shot from it, it will kill all the people present, which is forbidden." Internationally, his name is (the American dog), and I killed many people, and the talk that the media says about my accusation of war crimes is true. ”