The International Criminal Court (ICC) has sentenced al-Hassan ag Abdoul Aziz ag Mohamed ag Mahmoud, the former chief of Islamic police in Timbuktu, to ten years in prison for war crimes committed during the city's control by the al-Qaeda-affiliated Ansar Dine group in 2012. His reign of terror included acts of torture, overseeing public amputations with machetes, and subjecting residents, including children, to brutal flogging. While Mahmoud was acquitted of charges relating to rape, sexual slavery, and the destruction of precious ancient mausoleums in Timbuktu, the sentencing marks a significant judgment in the ICC's efforts to address war crimes in Mali.
Mahmoud was surrendered to the ICC by Malian authorities in 2018, five years after the city was liberated from jihadist control through intervention by French forces. The rise of Ansar Dine and other Islamist factions came amid an ethnic Tuareg rebellion, which allowed them to seize control over several northern cities in Mali. Notably, another leader, Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi, received a nine-year sentence in 2016 for his role in destroying historic sites at the UNESCO World Heritage location in Timbuktu.
Timbuktu, recognized for its significant contributions to Islamic scholarship from the 13th to 17th centuries, was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1988. The ICC's verdict serves to emphasize the ongoing battle against the impunity of perpetrators of such heinous acts and reflects a commitment to justice for the affected communities in Mali.
