ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I confirms charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity and commits suspect to trial
On 30 September 2019, the Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (ICC), unanimously, issued a confidential decision confirming the charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity brought by the Prosecutor against Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud (« Al Hassan ») and committed him to trial before a Trial Chamber. A redacted version of this decision will be published later.
Pre-Trial Chamber I, composed of Judge Péter Kovács, Presiding Judge, Judge Marc Perrin de Brichambaut and Judge Reine Alapini-Gansou, based its decision on the evidence presented by the Prosecutor and the Defence during the hearing held from 8 to 17 July 2019.
The Chamber concluded that there are substantial grounds to believe that Mr Al Hassan is responsible for the following crimes:
· Crimes against humanity allegedly committed in Timbuktu, Mali, in the context of a widespread and systematic attack by armed groups Ansar Eddine / Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb against the civilian population of Timbuktu and its region, between 1 April 2012 and 28 January 2013: Torture, rape, sexual slavery, other inhumane acts, including, inter alia, forced marriages, persecution; and
· War crimes allegedly committed in Timbuktu, Mali, in the context of an armed conflict not of an international nature occurring in the same period between April 2012 and January 2013: Torture, cruel treatment, outrages upon personal dignity, passing of sentences without previous judgement pronounced by a regularly constituted court affording all judicial guarantees which are generally recognized as indispensable, intentionally directing attacks against buildings dedicated to religion and historic monuments, rape and sexual slavery.
The decision confirming the charges can be appealed only with the authorisation of Pre-Trial Chamber I.
