Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz was convicted in June of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the period 2012-2013 when Ansar al-Din ruled Timbuktu.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has sentenced a key member of a Malian armed group to ten years in prison for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the city of Timbuktu more than a decade ago.
Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz was convicted in June on charges including torture, rape and sexual slavery, as well as destroying religious and historic buildings, while serving as police chief after the Al Qaeda-linked group Ansar al-Din seized control of Timbuktu had taken over. 2012 for almost a year.
Judge Kimberly Prost ruled on Wednesday that the 47-year-old contributed to the Ansar al-Dine regime, whose actions had a “traumatic effect on the people of Timbuktu”.
People “lived in an atmosphere of fear, violence, oppression (and) humiliation” and that period “remains present in the minds of victims of deep-seated trauma,” she said.
The sentence “is proportionate to the seriousness of the crimes and the individual circumstances and culpability of Mr Al Hassan,” she added.
“It appropriately reflects the international community’s strong condemnation of the crimes he committed and recognizes the significant damage and suffering caused to the victims,” Prost continued.
Dressed in all-white traditional West African robes and with his head wrapped in a turban, Al Hassan showed no emotion after the judge read out his verdict. But he listened intently with his hands folded in his lap.
He was later led away by ICC guards.
The crimes committed by Al Hassan included “cruel treatment as a war crime” for flogging one person, “mutilation” for amputating a hand, and “torture as a crime against humanity and a war crime.”
The court in The Hague also heard that women were arrested and then raped in detention during the Ansar al-Dine regime.
There were also brutal floggings in the main square in front of crowds, including children, and a public amputation with a machete.
However, Al Hassan was acquitted in June of the war crimes of rape and sexual slavery, as well as the crime against humanity of forced marriage.
Although the court found that certain crimes of sexual violence had occurred during that period, he was found not to be responsible for them.