Sudanese war crimes fugitive Ali Kushayb is in custody of the International Criminal Court following his capture in the Central African Republic.
Kushayb, believed to have been one of the top commanders of the Janjaweed militia, is wanted by the court to answer to several counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity in relation to the conflict in Darfur, Sudan.
“Ali Muhammad Ali Abd–Al-Rahman (“Ali Kushayb”) is in the custody of the International Criminal Court (ICC) after surrendering himself voluntarily in the Central African Republic on account of an ICC arrest warrant issued on 27 April 2007,” the ICC said in a statement.
The ICC said that Kushayb will appear before a Pre-Trial Chamber in due course.
“Ali Kushayb is alleged to have personally participated in some of the attacks against civilians namely in the towns of Kodoom, Bindist, Mukjar and Arawala between August 2003 and March 2004, where the killing of civilians, rape, torture and other cruel treatments occurred, therefore he allegedly committed, jointly with others, the above-mentioned crimes,” the statement said.
A Central African Republic government source told Reuters that Kushayb was arrested in the northern town of Birao and taken to a plane to be transferred to The Hague on Tuesday.
ICC Registrar Peter Lewis thanked the authorities of the Central African Republic, France, Chad, the Netherlands and the leaders of the United Nations mission MINUSCA for their support to the Court and cooperation in the arrest, surrender and transfer of Kushayb to the Court.
The ICC has also charged former Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir with war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in the conflict.
The conflict in Darfur since 2003 killed more than 200,000 people and displaced at least two million others, according to human rights groups and the United Nations.
