ICC Is Now Throwing Militants In The Slammer

Remember Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi? Islamist militant, orchestrator of the destruction of a number of sacred Malian mausoleums in 2012? As of today, he can also be remembered as the first person to be convicted of destroying cultural heritage as a war crime and as the first suspected Islamist militant to be tried at the ICC. Mahdi pleaded guilty, confessing that he felt “remorse” for his actions and urged “all Muslims in the world not to get involved in the same acts.” Due to his confession, co-operative behavior and five mitigating circumstances – one of which was that he prevented one of the shrines from being destroyed by bulldozer – his sentence was only 9 years, which was on the lower end of the proposed range. Malian residents, however, seem less willing to accept his apology stating that, “forgiveness means coming here in Mali and asking for forgiveness to Malians.” Others citing additional war crimes of rape, abuse and sexual slavery remain critical that these crimes still go unanswered.