In a historic first, the International Criminal Court has classified destroying cultural artifacts as a war crime.
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“I plead guilty”, Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi said during his trial at the International Criminal Court, where he admitted to the charge of cultural destruction.
Mahdi is the first person to be charged with war crimes arising out of the conflict in Mali.
Given al-Mahdi’s intention to plead guilty, his trial is expected to be over before the end of the week.
It is these rites, contrary to their legalistic vision of Islam that jihadists have tried to eradicate, before coming to the destruction of mausoleums, prosecutors said.
Bensouda compared Mahdi’s case to the demolition of historic buildings and artifacts in Syria and Iraq previous year.
Mahdi’s rebel group is accused of destroying nine mausoleums and the door of a mosque.
At the time of their destruction, the cemeteries were classified as world heritage sites, and under the protection of UNESCO. He faced up to 30 years in prison, but his attorneys, The Guardian reported, struck an agreement with the prosecutor’s office for a sentence of between nine and 11 years.
The judges recognised this, but also warned al-Mahdi that they were not necessarily bound by the deal and he faced a maximum term of 20 years.
The attacks, done using pickaxes, chisels and trucks, were “tantamount to an assault on people’s history” and “rob (bed) future generations of their landmarks and heritage”, according to ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda. Among them were images of Al Mahdi, at times with a Kalashnikov rifle slung over his shoulder, directing the attacks, which reduced the historic structures to piles of rubble.
Born around in 1975 in Agoune, 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Timbuktu, Mahdi was a member of the jihadist group Ansar Dine of Tuareg which joined forces with al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). Al-Mahdi was handed over by Niger’s government after the ICC issued a warrant for his arrest.
The destruction of cultural heritage can be prosecuted as a war crime under the Rome Statute of 1998 that established the ICC.
Human rights activists accuse the “Hisbah” of going beyond targeting buildings and allege that its members also tortured and raped civilians.
Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi is on trial for ordering the destruction of religious and cultural monuments in Mali’s capital of Timbuktu.
Speaking after Monday’s hearing, Bensouda said further charges could follow in her Mali probe.
“These sites were dedicated to religion”, she said. “So this is the first case we’ve brought and we will see with respect to other crimes that have been committed within the context in Mali”.
On the eve of the hearing, Timbuktu’s mayor, Halle Ousmane, welcomed the prosecution.
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“No one who destroys that which embodies the very soul and the roots of a people through such crimes should be allowed to escape justice”. Those who forgive me will be rewarded by the almighty.
