AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands: An Islamist rebel suspected of attacking mosques and monuments in the ancient Malian city of Timbuktu has been handed over to the International Criminal Court, the first ever detained for wrecking cultural heritage.
The court said early on Saturday that the man was handed over by Niger overnight and was now in its seaside detention center in The Hague, seat of the tribunal.
The court has been examining events in Mali since 2012, when Islamist Tuareg rebels seized large parts of the country’s north and imposed strict Shariah law and began desecrating ancient shrines, mosques and monuments in Timbuktu. French and Malian troops pushed them back the following year.
The court said Ahmad Al Mahdi Al Faqi, known as Abu Tourab, had headed Hesbah, or “Manners’ Brigade,” in 2012, which helped execute the decisions of the Islamic Court of Timbuktu.
He is accused of directing attacks against nine mausoleums and the Sidi Yahia mosque in the city, which by the 14th century had become a major trading hub and center of learning. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
“A zealous member of an armed group ... “Ansar Dine,” he played a predominant and active role in the functioning of the local structure put in place during the group’s occupation of Timbuktu in 2012,” said ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda.
“Intentional attacks against historic monuments and buildings dedicated to religion are serious crimes,” she added. “Such attacks affect humanity as a whole ... We will continue to do our part to highlight the severity of such war crimes.”
Set up in 2002, the court has faced a chorus of calls to get involved in some of the world’s bloodiest conflicts, including those, such as the spreading conflagration in Iraq and Syria, over which it has no jurisdiction.
Many observers have suggested the court should look at the destruction by the Daesh (Islamic State) of ancient archaeological sites in Palmyra, but neither country is a member, leaving it powerless to intervene without a mandate from the UN Security Council.
(Reporting by Thomas Escritt)
Mali extremist sent to world court for Timbuktu heritage destruction
Mali extremist sent to world court for Timbuktu heritage destruction
Lawsuit challenges Trump administration’s ending of protections for Somalis
- The lawsuit cites a series of statements Trump has made describing Somalis as “garbage” and “low IQ people” who “contribute nothing.”
BOSTON: Immigrant rights advocates filed a lawsuit on Monday seeking to stop US President Donald Trump’s administration from next week ending legal protections that allow nearly 1,100 Somalis to live and work in the United States. The lawsuit, brought by four Somalis and two advocacy groups, challenges the US Department of Homeland Security’s decision to end Temporary Protected Status for Somali immigrants, whom Trump has derided in public remarks. Outgoing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in January announced that TPS for Somalis would end on March 17, arguing that Somalia’s conditions had improved, despite fighting continuing between Somali forces and Al-Shabab militants. The plaintiffs, who include the groups African Communities Together and Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans, in the lawsuit filed in Boston federal court argue the move was procedurally flawed and driven by a discriminatory, predetermined agenda.
The lawsuit cites a series of statements Trump has made describing Somalis as “garbage” and “low IQ people” who “contribute nothing.”
The plaintiffs said the administration is ending TPS for Somalia and other countries due to unconstitutional bias against non-white immigrants, not based on objective assessments of country conditions.
“The termination of TPS for Somalia is racism masking as immigration policy,” Omar Farah, executive director at the legal group Muslim Advocates, said in a statement.
DHS did not respond to a request for comment. It has previously said TPS was “never intended to be a de facto amnesty program.”
TPS is a form of humanitarian immigration protection that shields eligible migrants from deportation and allows them to work. Under Noem, DHS has moved to end TPS for a dozen countries, sparking legal challenges. The administration on Saturday announced plans to pursue an appeal at the US Supreme Court in order to end TPS for over 350,000 Haitians. It also wants the high court to allow it to end TPS for about 6,000 Syrians.
SOMALI COMMUNITY TARGETED
Somalia was first designated for TPS in 1991, with its latest extension in 2024. About 1,082 Somalis currently hold TPS, and 1,383 more have pending applications, according to DHS. Somalis in Minnesota in recent months had become a target of Trump’s immigration crackdown, with officials pointing to a fraud scandal in which many people charged come from the state’s large Somali community. The Trump administration cited those fraud allegations as a basis for a months-long immigration enforcement surge in Democratic-led Minnesota, during which about 3,000 immigration agents were deployed, spurring protests and leading to the killing of two US citizens by federal agents.
In November, Trump announced he would end TPS for Somalis in Minnesota, and a month later said he wanted them sent “back to where they came from.”
The US Department of State advises against traveling to Somalia, citing crime and civil unrest among numerous factors.
