A Malian jihadi has been sent to The Hague to face war crimes charges related to the destruction of Timbuktu and sex slavery. He is the second man to be tried for the crime and prosecutors hope to send a message.
A still from a video shows Islamist militants destroying an ancient shrine in Timbuktu in 2012Image: Getty Images/AFP
Advertisement
The International Criminal Court has detained a Malian jihadi on charges of sex slavery and destruction of Timbuktu's UNESCO World Heritage site.
Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud, 40, was allegedly the de facto chief of Islamic police in Timbuktu from 2012 to 2013. He is accused of destroying cultural monuments and enforcing policies that led to sexual enslavement of women and girls.
On Saturday, the court in The Hague alleged that Hassan "participated in the policy of forced marriages which victimized the female inhabitants of Timbuktu and led to repeated rapes and the sexual enslavement of women and girls."
His detention "sends a strong message to all those, wherever they are, who commit crimes which shock the conscience of humanity, that my office remains steadfast in the pursuit of its mandate," chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said.
Malian Islamist convicted of destroying Timbuktu shrines - DW's Catherine Martens in Den Haag
02:47
This browser does not support the video element.
Second case
Al Hassan is the second person to be arrested for the destruction of a series of ancient mausoleums for supposed idolatry as part of an Islamist takeover of the city.
The other man, Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi, was sentenced in 2017 to nine years' imprisonment for his participation in the destruction. The landmark case was criticized for failing to encompass other crimes.
However, prosecutors in the new case have enough evidence to issue an arrest warrant for crimes against humanity including "torture, rape and sexual slavery; persecution of the inhabitants of Timbuktu on religious and gender grounds; and other inhumane acts."
Al Hassan was allegedly a member of the al-Qaida linked Ansar Dine group.
Islamists invaded northern Mali in 2012 raising fears that thousands of historical documents could be destroyed. Abdel Kader Haidara arranged their rescue and receives Germany's 2014 Africa Prize on October 6.
Image: DW/P. Breu
Historical treasures
The Timbuktu manuscripts are priceless historical documents. They tell of the quest for knowledge in the Islamic world many centuries ago. Timbuktu was once the center of Islamic research and scholarship in Africa.
Image: DW/P. Breu
Smuggled goods in lead packing cases
When Islamists began destroying historical sites in northern Mali in 2012, a group of concerned citizens began smuggling hundreds of thousands of manuscripts from Timbuktu to Bamako, the Malian capital in the south of the country. The manuscripts have been deposited there in a residential building, waiting to be restored and digitalized.
Image: DW/P. Breu
The scholar who saved the manuscripts
Abdel Kader Haidara organized the rescue operation. The owner of a family library, he wasn't only interested in saving his own manuscripts but all historical doucments in Timbuktu that were in danger of being destroyed.
Image: DW/P. Breu
A digital library in the making
The manuscripts are now being digitalized in a library in Bamako. Every page is placed under the camera and photographed. The image is checked and catalogued. Internet giant Google has expressed an interest in the collection.
Image: DW/P. Breu
Access to the manuscripts
The aim of digitalizing the manuscripts is twofold. Firstly to preserve them for posterity, should the originals not survive the heat and humidity of Bamako, and secondly to make them available to the general public. Before the armed conflict in the north and the rescue of the manuscripts, there had been no plans to digitalize them.
Image: DW/P. Breu
Boxes made to measure
After the manuscripts have been digitalized, they are placed in acid-free cardboard boxes. Because the manuscripts differ in size, they need specially designed hand-made boxes.
Image: DW/P. Breu
An empty library
There is not a single book to be found in the Mamma Haidara Memorial Library in Timbuktu. It is far from certain whether the library will ever house historical documents again. Many believe the manuscripts are safer in Bamako, others fear Timbuktu's historical status will be at risk without them.
Image: DW/P. Breu
Library in ruins
The Ahmed Baba Institute was built with funding from the Aga Khan Foundation, South Africa and Saudi Arabia. It did not only contain a library, but also equipment for digitalization and restoration. The institute is now empty and dilapidated.
Image: DW/P. Breu
Memorial to lost manuscripts
When the Islamists arrived in Timbuktu, they collected a number of manuscripts and set fire to them in the courtyard of the Ahmed Baba Institute. It was a show of force, directed at UNESCO and the West. About 4,000 manuscripts were destroyed in this manner. The charred remains serve as a memorial to lost heritage.
Image: DW/P. Breu
Timbuktu about to dwindle into insignificance?
When Timbuktu ceased to be a center of trade and commerce, it turned to tourism as an alternative source of revenue. But after the fighting in 2012, the tourists decided to go elsewhere. Timbuktu is also losing its cultural significance now that almost all the manuscripts have been moved elsewhere . Nobody knows if they will return.
Image: DW/P. Breu
A few manuscripts remain
A few private libraries are still intact. But in Timbuktu the term "library" can refer to just a dozen pages that fit on a goat's skin. This resident of Timbuktu inherited a number of manuscript pages from his grandfather. They are his most valuable possession.
Image: DW/P. Breu
An uncertain future
The political situation in Mali is tense and the Malian army is currently too weak to guarantee stability and security. Many Timbuktu residents who fled the city in 2012 have not returned. They do not trust the uneasy peace and their city faces an uncertain future.
Image: DW/P. Breu
12 images1 | 12
Center of Islamic learning
The city of Timbuktu, in Mali's north, was founded between the fifth and 12th centuries by Tuareg tribes. It has been called "the city of 333 saints" for the number of Muslim sages buried there.
The city was revered as a center of Islamic learning during its golden age in the 15th and 16th centuries.
Several jihadi insurgent groups swept across Mali's remote north in early 2012. Over three days, rebels overran northern Mali's three largest cities.
French-backed Malian troops seized Timbuktu in January 2013, but fleeing rebels burnt down the Ahmed Baba Institute, destroying ancient manuscripts.
