Summary
– In 2012 and 2013, armed groups in northern Mali committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, including gender-based sexual crimes. Among the 15 alleged direct and indirect perpetrators was Al Hassan, the Islamic commissioner for Timbuktu.
– In 2018, after years of investigation during which the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) documented cases of serious human rights violations, identified the victims, collected testimonies, and lodged complaints, Al Hassan was arrested in Niger. He could finally be brought to trial.
– In 2024, following lengthy proceedings, the International Criminal Court (ICC) rendered justice: Al Hassan was found guilty. However, because the judgement fails to take gender into account, a sense of impunity for sexual crimes lingers.
– In 2026, the ICC ordered reparations for 65,202 victims, an unprecedented development. Despite the absence of a conviction, gender-based harm is recognised by the Court.
– Mali must now cooperate with the process of providing reparations to survivors, despite its recent decision to withdraw from the Rome Statute. Other alleged perpetrators are still being sought. The FIDH continues to work to ensure that no crime goes unpunished in Mali.
The facts: sexual crimes committed in Mali between 2012 and 2013
Between March 2012 and January 2013, armed groups, notably jihadists and rebels [1], took control of three regions in northern Mali: Gao, Kidal and Timbuktu. These groups imposed Islamic law, known as Sharia. Under their control, the local population suffered imprisonment, enslavement, flogging, torture, forced conscription, and sexual crimes, all of which constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity.
As of 2012, in the midst of the conflict, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) started to investigate the crimes: gathering evidence, identifying and meeting with victims, and collecting testimonies. The investigations meticulously documented the crimes with a view to bringing them before the courts.
A report published in July 2012 documented, inter alia, the "campaign of rape" targeting women and girls in Gao and Timbuktu. [2] The investigation revealed that sexual crimes "appear to have mainly targeted women from the region’s Black communities" and were coupled with "insults and racially based comments", which suggests "targeted attacks against a section of the civilian population which constitute war crimes". Gender and intersectionality guided the FIDH’s 14-year legal action for the recognition of survivors.
In 2015 and again in 2017, the FIDH documented ongoing sexual crimes in northern Mali, perpetrated by armed groups, the Malian armed forces, and by international military and peacekeeping forces (MINUSMA and Operation Barkhane).
"The FIDH fact-finding missions will prove to be decisive in securing recognition for victims of sexual crimes by the international justice system in 2026," explained Drissa Traoré, Secretary-General of FIDH.
The mobilisation: From Malian courts to the International Criminal Court
Where war crimes and crimes against humanity are concerned, the course of justice is a long, and often very long, process. The protracted campaign aimed at Malian and international judicial sys-tems began in 2012.
In July 2012, Mali referred the situation to the International Criminal Court (ICC). Because Mali had ratified the Rome Statute, the Court was able to exercise jurisdiction. As soon as the investigation opened in January 2013, the report produced by the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC indicated that there was a "reasonable basis" to believe that war crimes had been committed in Mali, including cruel treatment, torture, murder and rape. The FIDH collaborates with the ICC’s international missions. The FIDH has travelled to The Hague on numerous occasions to request the opening or continuation of investigations, meet with the Office of the Prosecutor, attend hearings, promote the participation of victims, and advocate for a gender-sensitive approach.
The matter was also brought before Malian courts. The FIDH lodged two complaints which subsequently contributed to the ICC’s investigations.
– In November 2014, the FIDH and six Malian partner organisations lodged a complaint with partie civile for crimes against humanity and war crimes, before the senior investigating judge of the Court of First Instance of Commune III in Bamako, on behalf of 80 women and girls who were vic-tims of rape and other forms of sexual violence committed in northern Mali by armed groups in 2012 and 2013.
– In March 2015, the FIDH, six Malian partner organisations [3] and 33 victims lodged acomplaint with the High Court of Bamako’s Commune III against 15 alleged perpetrators of crimes against humanity and war crimes, including dozens of acts of rape and other forms of sexual violence against women and girls in Timbuktu.
Among the alleged perpetrators : Al Hassan, also known as Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud, who was the Islamic commissioner of Timbuktu at the time the crimes were committed and was be-lieved to be a member of Ansar Dine, a group linked to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
The obstacles: the Malian justice system overwhelmed and suspects on the run
Up until 2019, the justice system struggled to bring to trial the alleged perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in northern Mali.
In Mali, legal proceedings had ground to a halt. Complaints lodged by the FIDH and other partner organisations were not spared. Investigations were stalling, despite testimony facilitated by the or-ganisations and submitted to the investigating judge and which were subsequently taken up by the ICC. The Malian justice system was overwhelmed by the scale and gravity of the crimes. As far back as 2014, the FIDH recommended strengthening the Malian judicial system and ensuring the protection and safety ofwitnesses and parties civiles. In 2019, the call was heeded: the National Assembly of Mali expanded the jurisdiction of the specialised judicial unit in charge of combating terrorism and organised crime and provided it with the powers and investigative resources deemed necessary for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The political and security context also slowed down investigations, because of a lack of cooperation or willingness on the part of the authorities who were occupied with reconciliation and resolving the political crisis. The Commission Vérité, justice et réconciliation (CVJR) [Truth, Justice and Reconcil-iation Commission] was struggling to fulfil its mandate, which it would finally complete on 31 December 2021, having heard 20,000 victims. In 2017, the FIDH raised the alarm over a draft bill on national reconciliation which raised fears of amnesty for the perpetrators of crimes. The bill was passed in 2019 but the comments provided by organisations were only partially taken into account.
For the international justice system, the absence of perpetrators constitutes a major obstacle. Some suspects cannot be found or are dead and the ICC does not try cases in absentia. Consequently, many cases are at a standstill, despite the issuance of arrest warrants, such as that for Iyad Ag Ghaly, whose crimes were documented by the FIDH. In 2016, only Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdiwas arrested and sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment for physical damage to cultural heritage, offenc-es which do not reflect the gravity of the crimes committed in Timbuktu and are unrelated to the crimes against humanity committed against individuals.
Other suspects were released, sometimes in disregard of the legal framework. The FIDH estimatesthat in Mali, in 2018, "at least fifty alleged perpetrators of crimes against humanity or war crimes, who had been arrested, were released for political reasons or as part of negotiations with armed groups". This was the case with Ag Alfousseyni Houka Houka, an Islamic judge from Timbuktu who was charged by the Malian courts and released in August 2014 and with Aliou Mahamane Touré, former commissioner of the Islamic police in Gao, who was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment in August 2017 and was subsequently released in February 2019 as the result of a prisoner exchange deal.
The issue: the Al Hassan trial was the first for crimes against humanity committed in northern Mali
On 31 March 2018, an event took place that shed new light on the state of the justice system in Timbuktu: Al Hassan was arrested by the Nigerien authorities and handed over to the ICC. In 2019, at a hearing, the charges against Al Hassan for war crimes and crimes against humanity were confirmed, they include rape and sexual slavery, forced marriage, torture, and gender-based persecution. In July 2020, the trial openedbefore Trial Chamber X; 52 witnesses were heard.
The Al Hassan trial is significant for a number of reasons.
– It was the first trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by individuals in northern Mali, particularly sexual and gender-based violence.
– The ICC addressed gender-based persecution as a crime against humanity for the first time.
– The prosecution of Al Hassan would make it possible to trace the chain of responsibility right up to the most senior officials.
– The trial took place against a backdrop of escalating violence in central Mali, making it "imperative to prosecute’" the crimes in Timbuktu in order to "break the cycle of impunity".
Between 2018 and 2022, the FIDH assisted survivors from Timbuktu so that they could be witnesses in international proceedings. At that point, reparations were not yet on the table and being a witness does not necessarily mean being recognised as a victim. The FIDH assisted the ICC with the proceedings by providing support and monitoring individual cases, filing complaints, facilitating participation in the proceedings, helping to obtain psychological counselling for victims and ensuring their safety.
Impact: Al Hassan’s conviction and the recognition of gender-based crimes
The verdict was handed down on 26 June 2024. The ICC found Al Hassan guilty of part of the war crimes and crimes against humanity [4]committed between 2 April 2012 and 29 January 2013 in Timbuktu, and sentenced him to 10 years’ imprisonment. The sentence was reduced by one year in 2025 by the Appeals Chamber; his release is scheduled for 28 March 2027 because the majority of the sentence was served during the legal proceedings.
Despite the relief brought by this first conviction for crimes against humanity committed in Mali, the judgement had left the parties civiles feeling only partly satisfied: the judgement excluded gender-based crimes. While the Court did recognise the existence of some forms of gender-based crime – forced marriage, sexual slavery, rape – it ruled that there was insufficient evidence to establish Al Hassan’s guilt. Also, ICC did not recognise gender-based persecution as a crime against humanity. This raised concerns among victims’ organisations, "many of these survivors are currently living in dire circumstances, having been abandoned by their husbands and facing stigmatisation, marginalisation and a lack of income […] This verdict will set a very serious precedent and will certainly encourage the commission of sexual crimes in Mali and elsewhere."
The fight is not over. The FIDH "reiterates the urgent need to put in place reparations measures". In December 2024, the ICC Trial Chamber opened the reparations phase of the proceedingsagainst Al Hassan. Ahead of the hearing, in September 2025, the FIDH, Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice (WIGJ), and seven other individuals and organisations [5] submitted observations:
– the crimes took place against a backdrop of gender-based oppression and intersectional dis-crimination, a dimension highlighted as early as the 2012 investigations;
– every resident of Timbuktu during that period is presumed to be a victim;
– reparations must be victim-centred and co-created with the victims, so as to foster both individ-ual healing and community resilience.
On 28 April 2026, the ICC delivered its reparations order for victims in the case against Al Hassan. This had a significant impact, the submissions made by the FIDH and its partners were taken into consideration:
– the intersectional analysis of the harm and the gendered aspect of the persecution were recognised;
– 65,202 people are recognised as direct or indirect victims and potentially eligible for reparations totalling 7.25 million euros;
– collective reparations were granted; among them socio-economic rehabilitation projects, particularly for women and girls from the affected communities.
The implications: the implementation of reparations and bringing perpetrators such as Al Hassan to justice
The landmark decision, which sets a precedent for international justice and may lead to further or-ders for reparations for gender-based crimes. "This reparations order shows that the ICC can recog-nise gender-based and intersectional harm, even where convictions for crimes of gender-based violence have not been handed down," explains Ashley Waye, FIDH Programme Officer to the ICC - International Justice Desk.
Two challenges remain, and FIDH remains committed to addressing them.
The first is the implementation of reparations. The ICC has instructed the Trust Fund for Victims to formulate a draft implementation plan for approval by 25 January 2027. FIDH is regularly asked by the Trust Fund to provide comments.
Ashley Waye explains: "Mali’s cooperation is also a fundamental aspect of the implementation of the reparations mechanism. Mali’s recent decision to withdraw from the Rome Statute is deeply dis-appointing and poses a real risk to the victims. Mali remains obliged to cooperate to en-sure the implementation of the reparations ordered in the Al Hassan case, even after the withdrawal takes effect. We hope that Mali will reverse this decision and remain commit-ted to international justice as a State Party
