International Criminal Justice Rendered Concerning the Attack Against Timbuktu Mausoleums and Mosque: Focus on Religion-related Considerations

Abstract

On 27 September 2016, the International Criminal Court (ICC) Trial Chamber VIII convicted Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi of the war crime of attacking protected objects (ICC Statute, article 8(2)(e)(iv)) (‘the war crime’). 1 Following a plea agreement, al-Mahdi was convicted of intentionally directing attacks against ten religious-historical buildings (nine mausoleums and one mosque) in Timbuktu (Mali) (‘the sites’ or ‘the Timbuktu sites’), between around 30 June 2012 and 11 July 2012, connected to the noninternational armed conflict between state forces and the armed group Ansar Dine (al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM)-affiliated) to which al-Mahdi belonged. Al-Mahdi was sentenced to nine years imprisonment. The reconstruction of the sites ended in mid-2015. This was the first ICC judgment concerning the above-mentioned war crime. This comment discusses the legal elements of the war crime, focusing on the religious-historic nature of the sites and the religion-related circumstances of the attacks. It also considers the sentencing criteria, focusing on religion-related considerations. © 2017 Oxford University Press