NYALA, Sudan: Sudanese civilians displaced during the devastating conflict in Darfur have welcomed news that a top militia leader accused of atrocities there has surrendered himself to the International Criminal Court.
Ali Kushayb, also known as Ali Muhammad Abdelrahman, was wanted on more than 50 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the western region.
He turned himself in earlier this week in the Central African Republic, ending 13 years on the run.
“I couldn’t believe it at first,” said Badria Saleh, who lives in a refugee camp of mud houses with grass and plastic roofs in the South Darfur region.
“Kushayb killed my husband and my brother as they were burying a relative in 2013,” she told AFP.
“We fled our village,” she added, bursting into tears.
The Darfur conflict broke out in 2003 when ethnic African rebels, complaining of systematic discrimination, took up arms against the government of longtime dictator Omar Al-Bashir.
The state hit back with violence by the mostly Arab Janjaweed militias, a campaign that saw the ICC accuse Bashir of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
The United Nations says the conflict killed 300,000 people and displaced 2.5 million.
Kushayb, a senior Janjaweed commander in the early years of the conflict, was the target of a 2007 ICC arrest warrant on multiple counts including rape, murder and pillaging.
Hassan Al-Senousi, another displaced Darfuri at the Al-Sarif camp near South Darfur’s regional capital Nyala, said Kushayb’s arrest brought him “deep satisfaction.”
“Kushayb attacked our village with five cars and killed my brother and 35 other villagers,” he said.
“That was eight years ago — since then I’ve been living in the camp because I’m scared of his cruelty.”
Fellow camp resident Hamed Ahmed Harir said he had tried to return to his village of Raheid Al-Bardi, 150 kilometers (90 miles) south of Nyala four months ago, but was blocked by Kushayb’s forces.
“Kushayb detained me for two days and threatened to kill me if I didn’t leave,” he said.
“I’ve never been back.”
Displaced 70-year-old Abdelrahman, who lives in the sprawling Kalma camp east of Nyala, said Kushayb’s forces had looted his family’s properties.
“My family was forced to abandon 150 shops in Raheid Al-Bardi market,” he said angrily.
“Kushayb seized them and turned them into private investments.”
Kushayb’s arrest comes less than a year after a transitional government took power following Bashir’s ouster by the military in April 2019 on the back of vast protests against his rule.
The country’s new rulers, including civilian and military figures, have promised accountability for those responsible for crimes under Bashir.
In December Bashir himself was sentenced to two years in a community reform center over corruption.
And in February, transitional authorities finally agreed to hand him over for trial at the ICC, although they have yet to do so.
They have also started peace talks with rebel groups in Darfur and other conflict-torn parts of the country.
Kushayb is set to be the first of five Sudanese suspects wanted by the ICC over atrocities in Darfur to appear before the court.
“Kushayb’s arrest is a success for international justice and... for the victims,” Minni Minnawi, leader of a rebel group active in Darfur Sudanese Liberation Army, wrote on Twitter.
“May the rest follow, first and foremost Bashir.”
The ICC has also issued arrest warrants against several former officials including Ahmed Mohamed Haroun and Abdulreheem Mohamed Hussein, who held top government posts under Bashir.
The ICC’s chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda hailed Kushayb’s arrest and urged Sudanese authorities to ramp up cooperation and allow investigators access to the country.
“Justice for Darfur has already been too elusive for too long,” she said in a statement.
“A window of opportunity has been opened. We must collectively seize it... to finally bring justice to the victims in Darfur.”
On Wednesday, Sudanese government spokesman Faisal Mohamed Saleh welcomed Kushayb’s surrender and again stressed Khartoum’s readiness to “discuss the appearance of the other defendants before the ICC.”
For displaced Darfuri Al-Maafi Madani Al-Ghali, Kushayb’s surrender has rekindled hopes of going home.
“It will bring relative security to Darfur,” he said.
“We can return to our villages that he forced us to leave.”
Joy, tears in Darfur as ICC arrests war crimes suspect
Joy, tears in Darfur as ICC arrests war crimes suspect
- Ali Kushayb was wanted on more than 50 counts of war crimes
- Kushayb’s arrest comes less than a year after a transitional government took power
Turkiye to allow pro-Kurdish party to visit jailed militant leader
DEM requested the visit last month, soon after a key ally of President Tayyip Erdogan expanded on a proposal to end the 40-year-old conflict between the state and Ocalan’s outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
Ocalan has been serving a life sentence in a prison on the island of Imrali, south of Istanbul, since his capture 25 years ago.
Devlet Bahceli, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party, made the call a month after suggesting that Ocalan announce an end to the insurgency in exchange for the possibility of his release.
Erdogan described Bahceli’s initial proposal as a “historic window of opportunity.” After the latest call last month, Erdogan said he was in complete agreement with Bahceli on every issue and that they were acting in harmony and coordination.
“To be frank, the picture before us does not allow us to be very hopeful,” Erdogan said in parliament. “Despite all these difficulties, we are considering what can be done with a long-range perspective that focuses not only on today but also on the future.”
Bahceli regularly condemns pro-Kurdish politicians as tools of the PKK, which they deny.
DEM’s predecessor party was involved in peace talks between Ankara and Ocalan a decade ago, last meeting him in April 2015. The peace process and a ceasefire collapsed soon after, unleashing the most deadly phase of the conflict.
DEM MPs Sirri Sureyya Onder and Pervin Buldan, who both met Ocalan as part of peace talks at the time, will travel to Imrali island on Saturday or Sunday, depending on weather conditions, the party said.
Turkiye and its Western allies designate the PKK a terrorist group. More than 40,000 people have been killed in the fighting, which in the past was focused in the mainly Kurdish southeast but is now centered on northern Iraq, where the PKK is based.
Growing regional instability and changing political dynamics are seen as factors behind the bid to end the conflict with the PKK. The chances of success are unclear as Ankara has given no clues on what it may entail.
Since the fall of Bashar Assad in Syria this month, Ankara has repeatedly insisted that the Kurdish YPG militia, which it sees as an extension of the PKK, must disband, asserting that the group has no place in Syria’s future.
The YPG is the main component of the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
In a Reuters interview last week, SDF commander Mazloum Abdi acknowledged the presence of PKK fighters in Syria for the first time, saying they had helped fight Daesh and would return home if a total ceasefire was agreed with Turkiye, a core demand from Ankara.
Authorities in Turkiye have continued to crack down on alleged PKK activities. Last month, the government replaced five pro-Kurdish mayors in southeastern cities for suspected PKK ties, in a move that drew criticism from DEM and others.
Jordan leads Arab condemnation of Gaza hospital burning by Israeli forces
- Actions of troops are a ‘heinous war crime’ and ‘blatant violation of international law and humanitarian law,’ Jordanian Foreign Ministry says
- Qatar calls it a ‘dangerous escalation’ with potentially ‘dire consequences for the security and stability of the region’
LONDON: Jordan has described the actions of Israeli forces in clearing and burning one of the last hospitals that was still operating in northern Gaza as a “heinous war crime.”
Troops stormed the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia on Friday, forcing staff and patients from the building and setting fire to it.
Sufian Al-Qudah, a spokesperson for Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the attack was a “blatant violation of international law and humanitarian law. Israel is also held accountable for the safety of the hospital’s patients and medical staff.”
Jordan categorically rejects the “systematic targeting of medical personnel and facilities,” he added, and this was an attempt to destroy facilities “essential to the survival of the people in the northern Gaza Strip.”
Al-Qudah urged the international community to put pressure on Israel to halt its attacks on civilians in Gaza.
The UAE foreign ministry also said the destruction of the hospital was “deplorable.”
The ministry statement “condemned and denounced in the strongest terms the Israeli occupation forces' burning of Kamal Adwan Hospital … and the forced evacuation of patients and medical personnel.”
Qatar denounced “in the strongest terms” the attack on the hospital as a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.
The country’s Foreign Ministry said it represented a “dangerous escalation of the ongoing confrontations, which threatens dire consequences for the security and stability of the region,” and called for the protection of the “hundreds of patients, wounded individuals and medical staff” from the hospital.
UN worker seriously hurt in Israeli Yemen strike moved to Jordan, WHO says
- WHO chief Tedros was at Sanaa airport with his team when Israel attacked
ZURICH: The UN worker hurt in an Israeli air strike on Yemen’s main international airport on Thursday suffered serious injuries and has been evacuated to Jordan for further treatment, the World Health Organization said on Friday.
Israel said it had struck multiple targets linked to the Iran-aligned Houthi movement in Yemen, including Sanaa International Airport, and Houthi media said at least six people had been killed.
“Attacks on civilians and humanitarians must stop, everywhere. #NotATarget,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on X that showed him sitting in a plane looking across at what appeared to be the injured man.
Tedros was at the airport waiting to depart when the aerial bombardment took place that injured the man, who worked for the UN Humanitarian Air Service. A spokesperson for the WHO said the man had been seriously injured.
Tedros said he and the UN worker were now in Jordan.
The man underwent a successful surgical procedure prior to his evacuation for further treatment, Tedros said.
He had been in Yemen to negotiate the release of detained UN staff and to assess the humanitarian situation.
Jordan’s King Abdullah reaffirms support for Syria’s sovereignty, calls for Gaza ceasefire
- King in phone conversation with French president
AMMAN: King Abdullah II reaffirmed on Friday Jordan’s commitment to supporting Syria in building a free, independent, and fully sovereign state that reflected the aspirations of all its people.
In a phone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron, the king emphasized the importance of Syria’s security, and stability for the Middle East region as a whole. He also reiterated Jordan’s firm stance against any violations of Syria’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, Jordan News Agency reported.
Syria faced nearly 14 years of devastating civil war before the fall of President Bashar Assad’s regime earlier this month following a swift takeover by militants led by Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham.
The country remains fragmented, grappling with the challenges of rebuilding amid competing political and military influences.
The discussion between King Abdullah and Macron also addressed the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza.
The conflict, which erupted in the aftermath of a Hamas attack on Israeli territory on Oct. 7 last year, has led to a humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave, with tens of thousands of lives lost and infrastructure heavily damaged.
King Abdullah called for an immediate cessation of hostilities and a strengthened humanitarian response to alleviate the suffering of Palestinians trapped there.
He also stressed the urgent need for progress toward a just and comprehensive peace in the region, underscoring the two-state solution as the basis for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
King Abdullah highlighted the importance of sustained efforts to ensure the success of the ceasefire in Lebanon.
Syrian equestrian champ reveals 21 years of torture at hands of Assad regime
- Adnan Kassar was friends with Bassel Assad until overshadowing him at a championship event in 1993
- Kassar was detained, and his treatment worsened after Bassel’s death a year later
LONDON: A former champion equestrian has revealed the torture he suffered when he was detained by the Syrian regime after besting the older brother of former ruler Bashar Assad.
Adnan Kassar told Sky News he endured 21 years of imprisonment, during which he was physically and mentally abused, after Bassel Assad, his teammate at the 1993 International Equestrian Championship, became irritated at his performances.
The two had been good friends, but Kassar’s showing won his team the gold medal at the event on home soil in the port city of Latakia, after Bassel had produced a poor display.
“The crowd lifted me on their shoulders. It was a moment of pure joy, but for Bassel, it wasn’t the same. That day marked the beginning of my nightmare,” Kassar told Sky.
He was later arrested over what he called “fabricated” accusations and subjected to severe physical and psychological abuse.
“I was kept underground for six months, beaten constantly, and interrogated without end,” he said.
Bassel had originally been tipped to succeed his father, Hafez Assad, as Syria’s ruler. However, Bassel died in a car crash in 1994, propelling the younger Bashar to power.
For Kassar, though, Bassel’s death only made his situation more dire, as he was transferred to Sednaya Prison, where “the torture only got worse.”
Kassar said: “They blamed me for his death. Every year on the anniversary of his passing, the torture intensified.”
He was later sent to Tadmur Prison for seven-and-a-half years.
“They pierced my ear one morning and broke my jaw in the evening,” Kassar said. “For praying, they lashed me 1,000 times. My feet were torn apart, my bones exposed.”
Kassar was released in 2014 after a campaign of appeals by international human rights groups. For years, he resisted discussing his time in captivity for fear of reprisals but felt ready to speak after the fall of the Assad family.
“After years of imprisonment, torture, and injustice, the revolution finally toppled the dictatorial regime,” he said.
