CNN
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The International Criminal Court on Wednesday convicted an al-Qaeda-linked leader of crimes against humanity and war crimes in Timbuktu in northern Mali.
Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud, a senior member of the Islamic Police, was recruited by al-Qaeda leaders, the ICC said in a statement.
The Islamic Police played a “central role” in the system that al-Qaeda set up together with the Islamist group Ansar Dine to commit crimes against humanity and war crimes in Timbuktu between April 2012 and May 2013, the ICC said.
The International Criminal Court confirmed that Al Hassan was found guilty, along with the majority of the defendants, of directly committing, contributing to or aiding and abetting crimes against humanity (torture) and war crimes (torture), as well as violations of personal dignity.
The court in The Hague, Netherlands, acquitted him of charges of rape, sexual slavery, forced marriage and attack on protected objects because there was insufficient evidence of his guilt, the statement said.
The ICC stated that 2,196 victims participated in the trials. In 195 hearings, 7,896 documents were recorded and 13,275 pieces of evidence were presented, the court said.
Al Hassan will remain in custody pending a separate hearing on his sentence. The parties have 30 days to appeal the verdict.
Following a coup in Mali in 2012, Islamic extremists, some with links to al-Qaeda, took advantage of the country’s instability. CNN previously reported that they had overthrown the Tuareg tribe roaming the north and seized control of Timbuktu and other cities in the region.
They separated a large part of the region and began to enact their own laws.
They banned music, smoking, drinking and televised sports and destroyed historic tombs and shrines in the north.
Public executions, amputations, floggings and other inhumane punishments were also commonplace, the United Nations said at the time.
