The International Criminal Court (ICC) has sentenced al-Hassan ag Abdoul Aziz ag Mohamed ag Mahmoud, the former head of the Islamic police in Timbuktu, Mali, to ten years in prison for war crimes. Prosecutors revealed that he presided over a "reign of terror" in Timbuktu after the city was captured by the al-Qaeda-affiliated Ansar Dine group in 2012.
Aziz was found guilty of severe human rights violations, including torture and overseeing public amputations conducted with machetes, as well as administering brutal floggings to residents, including minors. However, he was acquitted of charges related to rape, sexual slavery, and the destruction of Timbuktu’s ancient mausoleums, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
He was handed over to the ICC in 2018, following a 2013 intervention by French troops that liberated Timbuktu from jihadist control. Ansar Dine was among several militant groups that took advantage of an ethnic Tuareg uprising to seize northern Mali's cities.
This latest case follows the sentencing of another Islamist militant leader, Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi, who was given a nine-year prison term in 2016 after admitting to his role in the destruction of historic mausoleums in Timbuktu in 2012. Timbuktu was a prominent center of Islamic education from the 13th to 17th centuries and has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1988.
