Sudan militia leader accused of Darfur war crimes denies charges
March 4, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — A Sudanese accused of war crimes by the International Criminal Court made his first press appearance in a local newspaper Sunday to profess his innocence.
In comments made to the pro-Arab, pro-Islamist Al Intibaha, Ali Mohammed Ali Abd-al-Rahman, also known as Ali Kushayb, denied leading a group of janjaweed militias in attacking civilians. Instead, he claimed to be an ex-soldier recruited for the Popular Defense Forces to protect villagers and nomads from the “real janjaweed” in the areas of Wadi Salih and West Darfur state.
“We did not kill any innocent people and we did not cause the displacement of any people,” he said. He accused “rebel elements” of setting him up to be accused of the alleged crimes.
Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the ICC’s prosecutor, charged Kushayb and Ahmed Muhammed Harun, the former junior interior minister responsible for the western region of Darfur, with 51 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity on Tuesday.
Kushayb, who was dressed in a white turban and appeared to be in his mid-fifties in the picture that accompanied Sunday’s newspaper article, denied having met with Harun to carry out the alleged crimes.
He told the editor in chief of Al Intibaha, Sadeq Al Rizzaigi, that the accusations were untrue “simply because these acts never occurred in the first place.” Rizzaigi reportedly used his position as a relative of Kushayb to get access to him.
While the prosecution document is not an indictment, it does say that there are “reasonable grounds to believe” that Harun and Kushayb “bear criminal responsibility” for the offenses, including murder, rape, torture and persecution.
The document provided the first details of the 21-month investigation into the situation in Darfur where more than 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million displaced. Fighting erupted in February 2003 when ethnic African tribesmen took up arms, complaining of decades of neglect and discrimination by the Khartoum government. Janjaweed, Arab militias, are blamed for many of the crimes.
Prosecutors singled out atrocities in four separate towns and villages, saying janjaweed fighters targeted civilians suspected of supporting rebels.
Moreno-Ocampo cited a rape victim in the town of Arawala, in December 2003, who described in detail how Kushayb “personally inspected a group of naked women before they were raped by men under his command.”
In another incident, Kushayb, whom Moreno-Ocampo called a colonel of colonels in the janjaweed, “personally participated” in the summary execution of at least 32 men.
Khartoum told Moreno-Ocampo that Kushayb was arrested last November and is in custody for investigation into five attacks in which hundreds of people were killed. The attacks were not the same as those being probed by the ICC, he said.
No charges had been brought against him, the prosecutor said, but Sudanese authorities had told him they would complete the next phase of their investigation next month.
If Kushayb and Harun are convicted by the ICC, they face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment at the court, which does not have the death penalty.
Sudan’s president said on Saturday that his country would not hand over for trial any citizen sought by international courts.
(AP)