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Mali at the ICC: The blueprint for a new strategy or a bird in the hand?
06 October 2015 by Benjamin Duerr, The Hague (The Netherlands)
The ruins of the mausoleum Sheikh Sidi Ahmed Ben Amar Arragadi in June 2013. The mausoleum is one of the structures named in the preliminary charges against Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi (Photo: Flickr/MINUSMA-Sophie Ravier)
Some see the case concerning cultural destruction in Mali as a blueprint for the International Criminal Court's prospective, more successful prosecutions. Others call it the debut of the prosecutor's new strategy in action: building cases from bottom-up instead of directly pursuing the most responsible perpetrators. Still, some critics say the case's first suspect, Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi, just fell into the court's lap.
Making his initial appearance on 30 September, Al Faqi is the first alleged Islamist extremist at the court and the first person the ICC has charged with the war crime of destroying cultural and religious property. Abou Tourab, his nomme de guerre, is accused of demolishing nine mausoleums and a mosque during Timbuktu's siege by Muslim rebels in 2012.
Although little is known about him, Al Faqi does not appear to be the most responsible individual for the crimes in Mali. Writing an op-ed in The Guardian, his former teacher, Fatouma Harber, describes him as "just a little fish", not a "major player in the occupation", and says there are "many [others in Mali who are] more deserving of justice".
ICC, Mali, warcrimes, Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi
View full issue IJT 187
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Mali war crimes suspect Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi at his confirmation of charges hearing before the ICC (Photo: Twitter/ICC-CPI)
ICC prosecutor stresses psychological harm of Timbuktu destruction
01 March 2016 by Benjamin Duerr, The Hague (The Netherlands)
In the first case of its kind, judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) have to decide whether the destruction of cultural property and related psychological harm to the population in Mali deserves the attention of the global court. At the confirmation of charges hearing which began Tuesday, the prosecutors said Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi should be tried for war crimes committed during the Islamist occupation of the city of Timbuktu.
ICC ready to reinvestigate Libya, but is the world?
24 September 2014 by Christopher Stephen, Tripoli (Libya)
Just when The Hague thought it was finished with Libya, the International Criminal Court finds itself preparing fresh investigations for the strife-torn country.
Darfur: the ambiguities of the US exemption
11 April 2005 by HEIKELINA VERRIJN STUART
The Security Council's referral of the situation in Darfur to the International Criminal Court (ICC) has been hailed as a giant step in the history of international humanitarian law. It has also been criticised for applying double standards by exempting the United States from the ICC's jurisdiction.
Prosecution picture of Malian ICC suspect Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi preaching to the crowd at the destruction of a Timbuktu shrine (Photo: Janet Anderson)
Is the Malian Islamist now at the ICC really such a big fish?
01 March 2016 by Janet H. Anderson, The Hague (The Netherlands)
If you listen to the prosecution's presentation at the ICC today, Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi, an Islamist from Timbuktu, was not only an expert in Islamic law – and recognised as such by his peers – a recruiter and an active member of the Islamic group Ansaredinne, but, most importantly, the ringleader behind the destruction of nine shrines in 2012.
Sudan braces for referendum
15 December 2010 by Koert Lindijer
Justice has always been a rare commodity in Sudan, and the imminent divorce between North and South Sudan will not necessarily lead to democracy and more human rights. Southern Sudan will be a fragile state and the North will probably become more autocratic. Meanwhile, the war in Darfur may even reignite.
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