International Criminal Court investigation in Mali

Situation in the Republic of Mali

The seal of the International Criminal Court
File no.	01/12
Referred by	Mali
Date referred	13 July 2012
Date opened	16 January 2013
Incident(s)	Northern Mali conflict
Crimes	War crimes: · Intentionally directing attacks against buildings dedicated to religion · Destruction of cultural world heritage in the Malian city of Timbuktu
Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi	Completed

The International Criminal Court investigation in Mali or the Situation in the Republic of Mali is an ongoing investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) into war crimes and other crimes within the ICC's jurisdiction that are alleged to have occurred during the Northern Mali conflict since January 2012. The investigation was requested by the government of Mali in July 2012. As the first person, who plead guilty to a charge of the ICC, al-Mahdi made a statement, expressing remorse and advising others, not to commit similar acts.

On 27 September 2016, al-Mahdi was sentenced to nine years in prison for the destruction of cultural world heritage in the Malian city of Timbuktu. At least nine mausoleums and one mosque were destroyed.

Several human rights organisations reported on human rights abuses during the Northern Mali conflict that started in early 2012. The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and its Malian member organisation Association Malienne des Droits de l'Homme (AMDH) published a detailed report in December 2012, referring to evidence of a rape campaign in Gao and Timbuktu after their takeover by the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), recruitment of 12- to 15-year-old children as child soldiers by Ansar Dine, and the summary execution of up to 153 Malian soldiers by the MNLA and Ansar Dine on 24 January 2012.Human Rights Watch reported the use of "several hundred" child soldiers by the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO), and Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).Amnesty International published a detailed report in May 2012, describing the human rights situation as "Mali's worst human rights situation in 50 years".