ICC convicts al-Qaida-linked leader of abusing prisoners in Mali

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The International Criminal Court on Wednesday convicted an al-Qaida-linked extremist leader of the religious persecution and torture of prisoners in Mali in 2012-13 when he headed the Islamic police in the historic desert city of Timbuktu.

Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud sat stoically while the decision finding him guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity was read out at the court in the Dutch city of The Hague. He faces up to life in prison when the sentence is decided at a later date.

Al Hassan was acquitted of several charges focusing on the abuse of women. The three-judge panel found that rape and sexual slavery did occur while Al Hassan's group controlled Timbuktu, but that Al Hassan couldn’t be connected to those crimes.

The court found the 47-year old Malian was a key member of Ansar Dine, an Islamic extremist group with links to al-Qaida that held power at the time.

“The inhabitants had no other choice than to adapt their lives and lifestyle to the version of Sharia law imposed on them by Ansar Dine,” presiding judge Antoine Kesia-Mbe Mindua said, speaking in French.

Judges agreed there was sufficient evidence to convict Al Hassan of charges including torture, outrages upon personal dignity and cruel treatment. They found that prisoners were abused by being kept in tiny, disgusting cells and repeatedly flogged.

“Al Hassan himself inflicted at least 34 and 37 lashes" on two male victims, the Congolese judge said.

Defense lawyer Melinda Taylor told judges during the trial that Al Hassan's position in the Islamic police force obliged him to respect and carry out decisions made by an Islamic tribunal. "This is what the police around the world do," Taylor said.

Women and girls suffered in particular under Ansar Dine’s repressive regime, facing corporal punishment and imprisonment, the court’s then-chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said at the start of Al Hassan’s trial nearly four years ago.

In Timbuktu, victims of Ansar Dine crimes were hoping for compensation, which would likely come only after sentencing. “We are waiting and hoping for a judgment that will give us justice,” said Yehia Hamma Cissé, president of a group of victims’ associations in the Timbuktu region.

The court made a reparation order following the 2016 conviction of another Ansar Dine member, Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi. He was sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment for attacking nine mausoleums and a mosque door in Timbuktu in 2012.

A French-led military operation in 2013 forced Al Hassan and others from power.

Mali, along with its neighbors Burkina Faso and Niger, has for over a decade battled an insurgency fought by armed groups, including some allied with al-Qaida and the Islamic State group. Following military coups in all three nations in recent years, the ruling juntas have expelled French forces and turned to Russia’s mercenary units for security assistance instead.

Col. Assimi Goita, who took charge in Mali after a second coup in 2021, promised to return the country to democracy in early 2024. But in September, the junta canceled elections scheduled for February 2024 indefinitely, citing the need for further technical preparations.

The pronouncement of the verdict in Al Hassan's case was delayed by nearly six months after the presiding judge fell ill in January.

Last week, the court unsealed an arrest warrant for another Malian man accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Iyad Ag Ghaly, also known as Abou Fadl, is suspected of leading Ansar Dine and prosecutors have charged him with murder, rape, sexual slavery and persecution of women and girls on gender grounds.

Associated Press journalist Baba Ahmed in Bamako, Mali, and Mike Corder in The Hague contributed to this report.

FILE - Mohamed Maouloud Ould Mohamed, a mausoleum caretaker, prays at a damaged tomb in Timbuktu, Mali, April 4, 2014. The International Criminal Court unsealed an arrest warrant Friday June 21, 2024, for a Malian accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the desert city of Timbuktu in 2012-13, where he is suspected of leading an al-Qaida-linked Islamic extremist group. (AP Photo/Baba Ahmed, File)

Exterior of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud talks to his defense counsel at the courtroom of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, Wednesday, June 26, 2024, where judges deliver the verdict in the trial of the suspect accused of playing a key role in a reign of terror unleashed by al-Qaida-linked insurgents on the historic desert city of Timbuktu in northern Mali in 2012. Al Hassan could face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment if convicted on charges including involvement in crimes including rape, torture, persecution, enforced marriages and sexual slavery. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, Pool)

Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud greets his defense team, with main defense counsel Melinda Taylor, right, in the courtroom of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, Wednesday, June 26, 2024, where judges deliver their verdict in the trial of the suspect accused of playing a key role in a reign of terror unleashed by al-Qaida-linked insurgents on the historic desert city of Timbuktu in northern Mali in 2012. Al Hassan could face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment if convicted on charges including involvement in crimes including rape, torture, persecution, enforced marriages and sexual slavery. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, Pool)

Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud rises as judges enters the courtroom of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, Wednesday, June 26, 2024, where judges delivered the verdict in the trial of the suspect accused of playing a key role in a reign of terror unleashed by al-Qaida-linked insurgents on the historic desert city of Timbuktu in northern Mali in 2012. Al Hassan could face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment if convicted on charges including involvement in crimes including rape, torture, persecution, enforced marriages and sexual slavery. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, Pool)

FILE - People attending a ceremony stand near a mausoleum, right, that was restored in Timbuktu, Mali, July 18, 2015, after the 14 mausoleums in Mali's northern historic city that had been destroyed by Islamic extremists in 2012 have been restored. The International Criminal Court unsealed an arrest warrant Friday June 21, 2024, for a Malian accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the desert city of Timbuktu in 2012-13, where he is suspected of leading an al-Qaida-linked Islamic extremist group. (AP Photo/Baba Ahmed, File)

FILE - Fighters from Islamist group Ansar Dine stand guard in Timbuktu, Mali, Aug. 31, 2012, as they prepare to publicly lash a member of the Islamic Police found guilty of adultery. The International Criminal Court unsealed an arrest warrant Friday June 21, 2024, for a Malian accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the desert city of Timbuktu in 2012-13, where he is suspected of leading an al-Qaida-linked Islamic extremist group. (AP Photo/File)

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Frustrated by the limits of the laboriously slow International Criminal Court and determined that the security officers who allegedly killed their loved ones not enjoy absolute impunity, Venezuelans have brought their crimes-against-humanity case to a federal court 3,000 miles from home — in Argentina.

In a first for Venezuela under the repressive rule of President Nicolás Maduro, a federal court in Buenos Aires concluded two days of testimony from Venezuelan victims on Friday as part of an investigation into probable human rights abuses they claim were committed by security forces in 2014, the year after Maduro took power.

Earlier in the year, Argentine prosecutors moved to revive a criminal complaint lodged in 2023 by the Clooney Foundation for Justice on behalf of survivors and the family members of those killed in what lawyers called a “systematic plan” by the state to crush dissent.

Prosecutors declared that the crimes committed by high-ranking members of the Venezuelan National Guard were of “extreme seriousness” and required an immediate investigation.

Several people flew from Venezuela for the first pre-trial hearing, which began Thursday in Argentina — a nation that has grappled with its own legacy of war crimes and has become committed to pursuing war criminals operating beyond its borders.

“Those testifying are people who have sought justice in Venezuela for a very long time, and have reached the end of where they can go,” said Yasmine Chubin, legal advocacy director at the Clooney Foundation, a nonprofit founded by George and Amal Clooney that provides free legal support to victims of human rights abuses. “They’re continuing to fight to hold those responsible to account, and that led to us filing this case.”

Security forces used harsh tactics to clamp down on mass anti-government protests that rocked Venezuela in 2014 — arresting, torturing and killing those suspected of dissent. At least 43 people, including security officials and protesters, were killed in that crackdown.

Venezuelans have struggled to challenge Maduro in their own country, where legal experts say that cases against the government often punish low-level officers while protecting those in power.

The International Criminal Court in 2018 opened an initial investigation into abuses in Venezuela — following an unprecedented referral by five Latin American countries and Canada — but years later, the probe remains in its early stages.

In March, the Hague-based tribunal rejected Venezuela’s appeal, upholding its decision to investigate alleged atrocities committed in the country. Maduro's government denies accusations of large-scale crimes and says it's already reviewing some alleged abuses internally.

Human rights lawyers around the world have increasingly pursued cases in national courts under what is called the principle of universal jurisdiction, saying the ICC often moves too slowly to have a real-time effect on current events.

“The capacity of the ICC is limited as it can only handle a handful of cases,” said Chubin. “The scale of atrocities in Venezuela, spanning thousands of deaths and numerous other violations like persecution, arbitrary detention, torture, and sexual violence calls for a broader approach.”

Among the handful of countries that have adopted the principle in their legal systems, Argentina stands out in the region for its unusually favorable record of applying the legal concept to investigate alleged crimes against humanity committed in Spain, Nicaragua and Myanmar.

The foundation said it chose to file its case — complete with 15,000 pages of documentation — in Argentina because of the country's proximity to Venezuela, its large community of Venezuelan immigrants, and its broad interpretation of universal jurisdiction, a product of its 1983 transition to democracy from a brutal military dictatorship.

Under the legal principle, neither the defendants nor the plaintiffs need to be residents of the country where the trial is held. The foundation declined to provide details about the Venezuelans who testified Friday, citing the continued dangers facing them at home.

There’s no saying how long the process might take, but lawyers say they’re encouraged by the speed with which Argentina decided to launch its investigation — just one month after the foundation filed its complaint. While the case is unlikely to produce arrests ahead of Venezuela's elections on July 28, any risk of a messy dispute in the Argentine courts could overshadow the vote.

“Depending on the situation with universal jurisdiction, you might be looking for symbolic results. That's not our case,” said Ignacio Jovtis, senior program manager at the Clooney Foundation for Justice. “We are very determined to see things through to completion and achieve concrete results.”

In other words, Jovtis said, the plaintiffs hope to see senior Venezuelan security officials extradited and standing trial in Buenos Aires. The foundation has declined to publicly name the accused, wary of giving the defendants advance notice of the case against them.

The Argentine federal prosecutor who took on the case, Carlos Stornelli, could not immediately be reached for comment.

The hourslong hearings Thursday and Friday exhausted the plaintiffs, many of whom broke down as they recounted horrors that they endured, Chubin said. But in the Buenos Aires court on Friday, they said they felt something like hope.

FILE - Demonstrators holds cardboard posters showing images of family and friends killed during anti-government protests, in Caracas, Venezuela, March 18, 2014. An Argentine federal court in Buenos Aires on June 28, 2024, concluded testimony from Venezuelan victims as part of an investigation into probable human rights abuses allegedly committed by security forces during the 2014 clampdown on mass anti-government protests. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix, File)