THE HAGUE, Netherlands, Dec 9, (AP): Judges at the International Criminal Court sentenced a leader of the feared Sudanese Janjaweed militia to 20 years imprisonment Tuesday for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the catastrophic conflict in Darfur more than two decades ago. At a hearing last month, prosecutors sought a life sentence for Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman who was was convicted in October of 27 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity that included ordering mass executions and bludgeoning two prisoners to death with an ax in 2003-2004.

"He committed these crimes knowingly, willfully, and with, the evidence shows, enthusiasm and vigor,” prosecutor Julian Nicholls told judges at the sentencing hearing in November. Abd-Al-Rahman, 76, stood and listened, but showed no reaction as Presiding Judge Joanna Korner passed the sentence. He was handed sentences ranging from eight years to 20 years for each of the counts for which he was convicted before the court imposed the overarching joint sentence of 20 years.

She said that Abd-Al-Rahman "not only gave the orders that led directly to the crimes” in attacks that largely targeted members of the Fur tribe perceived as supporting a rebellion against Sudanese authorities, he "also personally perpetrated some of them using an ax he carried in order to beat prisoners.” Abd-Al-Rahman, who is also known as Ali Kushayb, is the first person convicted by the ICC for atrocities in Sudan’s Darfur region, where trial judges ruled that the Janjaweed crimes were part of a government plan to stamp out a rebellion there.

The ICC has a maximum sentence of 30 years imprisonment, but judges have the discretion to raise that to life in extremely grave cases. Abd-Al-Rahman’s time in detention before and during his trial will be deducted from the sentence. Abd-Al-Rahman’s crimes were committed more than two decades ago, but violence continues to plague Darfur as Sudan is torn apart by civil war.

ICC prosecutors are seeking to gather and preserve evidence from a deadly rampage last month in a besieged city in the region. The latest alleged atrocities in famine-hit el-Fasher "are part of a broader pattern of violence that has afflicted the entire Darfur region” and "may constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity,” the ICC statement said, noting that evidence could be used in future prosecutions. Korner said that ICC sentences are imposed as a deterrent to prevent other crimes in the future. "Deterrence is particularly apposite in this case given the current state of affairs in Sudan,” she said.