4 ‘notorious’ leaders prosecuted and jailed by the ICC for war crimes

On 21st November 2024, the Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant, as well as for Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri, also known as Deif, the Commander-in-Chief of Hamas’s military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, all for alleged war crimes.

The ICC stated that Netanyahu and Gallant bear criminal responsibility for the war crime of starvation and crimes against humanity, including murder and persecution. These leaders are now at risk of arrest if they travel to any of the 124 countries that have signed the Rome Statute.

The ICC captured the major headlines with these arrest warrants but, these leaders are not the first to face the ICC’s wrath.

Over the years, the Court has taken on some of the world’s most notorious figures, prosecuting them for their involvement in horrific crimes. Here are four other infamous leaders who have been convicted and jailed by the ICC:

1. Germain Katanga

• Arrest Warrant: Issued on 2nd July 2007, unsealed on 15th October 2007.

• Role: Alleged commander of the Force de Résistance Patriotique en Ituri (FRPI) at the time of the arrest warrant.

• Charges: Found guilty, as an accessory, of one count of crime against humanity: murder; and four counts of war crimes: murder, attacking a civilian population, destruction of property and pillaging, committed on 24 February 2003 during the attack on the village of Bogoro, in the Ituri district of the DRC.

• Sentence: 12 years' imprisonment.

2. Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi

• Arrest Warrant: Issued on 28th September 2015.

• Role: Alleged member of Ansar Eddine (associated with Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb), head of the Hisbah (Islamic police) until September 2012, and associated with the Islamic Court of Timbuktu.

• Charges: Found guilty as a co-perpetrator of the war crime of intentionally directing attacks against religious and historic buildings in Timbuktu, Mali, in June and July 2012.

• Sentence: Initially sentenced to 9 years on 27th September 2016. The sentence was reduced by two years on 25th November 2021, with completion on 18th September 2022.

3. Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz

• Arrest Warrant: Issued on 27th March 2018.

• Role: Alleged member of Ansar Eddine, de facto chief of Islamic police, and associated with the Islamic court in Timbuktu.

• Charges: Convicted on 26th June 2024 by Trial Chamber X for some charges brought against him.

• Sentence: 10 years

4. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo

• Arrest Warrant: Issued on 10th February 2006, unsealed on 17th March 2006.

• Role: Former President of the Union des Patriotes Congolais/Forces Patriotiques pour la Libération du Congo (UPC/FPLC).

• Charges: Found guilty on 14th March 2012 of war crimes of enlisting and conscripting children under 15 years of age and using them to participate actively in hostilities.

• Sentence: Sentenced to 14 years of imprisonment on 10th July 2012, transferred to a DRC prison on 19th December 2015 and released on 15th March 2020 after serving his sentence.

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