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| Prosecutors Lay Out Case Against Suspect in Destruction of Mali Shrines | Prosecutors Lay Out Case Against Suspect in Destruction of Mali Shrines |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| PARIS — International prosecutors on Tuesday laid out charges in their first case involving Islamic extremism, accusing a jihadist from Mali of destroying historic Muslim shrines in Timbuktu that were protected as a World Heritage Site. | |
| They said that the accused, Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi, was part of a Qaeda-linked group that seized the north of Mali in 2012 and imposed an extreme form of Sharia law until the radicals were driven out by French troops. | They said that the accused, Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi, was part of a Qaeda-linked group that seized the north of Mali in 2012 and imposed an extreme form of Sharia law until the radicals were driven out by French troops. |
| Prosecutors in The Hague said that Mr. Mahdi had led the razing of 10 shrines around Timbuktu, a town on the southern edge of the Sahara that gained prominence as an ancient trading crossroads and a vital center of Islamic learning from the 15th century to the 17th century. | Prosecutors in The Hague said that Mr. Mahdi had led the razing of 10 shrines around Timbuktu, a town on the southern edge of the Sahara that gained prominence as an ancient trading crossroads and a vital center of Islamic learning from the 15th century to the 17th century. |
| Some of the town’s most illustrious Islamic thinkers and teachers were considered saints, and were buried beneath small mud and brick mausoleums. Residents and pilgrims would come to pray or ask for blessings. But in the view of Hisbah, the new morality police, the shrines were places of idolatry. Mr. Mahdi, as the chief of Hisbah, along with several other radicals, ordered their demolition, the prosecutors said. | Some of the town’s most illustrious Islamic thinkers and teachers were considered saints, and were buried beneath small mud and brick mausoleums. Residents and pilgrims would come to pray or ask for blessings. But in the view of Hisbah, the new morality police, the shrines were places of idolatry. Mr. Mahdi, as the chief of Hisbah, along with several other radicals, ordered their demolition, the prosecutors said. |
| “This case is not about determining about who is right and wrong in a religious sense,” but about a war crime, the chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, told the International Criminal Court on Tuesday. The razed sites were intrinsic to religious practices and were part of the city’s rich history, and were not military objectives, she said. Their destruction was “a callous assault on the dignity and identity of entire populations,” Ms. Bensouda said. | “This case is not about determining about who is right and wrong in a religious sense,” but about a war crime, the chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, told the International Criminal Court on Tuesday. The razed sites were intrinsic to religious practices and were part of the city’s rich history, and were not military objectives, she said. Their destruction was “a callous assault on the dignity and identity of entire populations,” Ms. Bensouda said. |
| For the court, it is the first case addressing cultural destruction as a heinous crime. Ms. Bensouda hinted that the court would have to address other cases in the future. | For the court, it is the first case addressing cultural destruction as a heinous crime. Ms. Bensouda hinted that the court would have to address other cases in the future. |
| “Attacks against cultural property are a constant,” she said, citing the damage caused recently in Aleppo and Palmyra in Syria and the Taliban’s demolition of Buddha statues in Afghanistan in 2001. “This is the true significance of this hearing,” she said. | “Attacks against cultural property are a constant,” she said, citing the damage caused recently in Aleppo and Palmyra in Syria and the Taliban’s demolition of Buddha statues in Afghanistan in 2001. “This is the true significance of this hearing,” she said. |
| Cultural destruction as a punishable crime, however, is not a novelty in international law. The United Nations tribunal dealing with the former Yugoslavia has, through multiple trials, established extensive jurisprudence to treat the plundering and bombing of cultural and religious sites as both war crimes and crimes against humanity. Many were linked to Serbian ethnic cleansing campaigns in Bosnia, where more than 1000 mosques and churches were deliberately destroyed. Two Serbian officers were convicted in the bombing of the historic city of Dubrovnik, and six Croatians were found guilty of blowing up a historic bridge and parts of the old town of Mostar. | Cultural destruction as a punishable crime, however, is not a novelty in international law. The United Nations tribunal dealing with the former Yugoslavia has, through multiple trials, established extensive jurisprudence to treat the plundering and bombing of cultural and religious sites as both war crimes and crimes against humanity. Many were linked to Serbian ethnic cleansing campaigns in Bosnia, where more than 1000 mosques and churches were deliberately destroyed. Two Serbian officers were convicted in the bombing of the historic city of Dubrovnik, and six Croatians were found guilty of blowing up a historic bridge and parts of the old town of Mostar. |
| Until the pretrial hearings on Tuesday, few details were known about Mr. Mahdi’s arrival at The Hague last year. Prosecutors told the court that he had been captured in late 2013 by French troops while traveling with other armed Islamists in the desert in neighboring Niger. They and hundreds of others had fled Mali just before the announced arrival of the French forces in Timbuktu. | Until the pretrial hearings on Tuesday, few details were known about Mr. Mahdi’s arrival at The Hague last year. Prosecutors told the court that he had been captured in late 2013 by French troops while traveling with other armed Islamists in the desert in neighboring Niger. They and hundreds of others had fled Mali just before the announced arrival of the French forces in Timbuktu. |
| Prosecutors said that most of the men with whom Mr. Mahdi planned the demolition of the shrines were now dead, but they gave no further details. | Prosecutors said that most of the men with whom Mr. Mahdi planned the demolition of the shrines were now dead, but they gave no further details. |
| Filling out Mr. Mahdi’s portrait, they said he was from Timbuktu, where he had worked as a teacher and was known for his religious knowledge. Prosecutors said he had spent time in Libya and Saudi Arabia. He joined Ansar Dine, the Islamist group allied with the North African affiliate of Al Qaeda known as Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, as the groups overran Timbuktu and other places in northern Mali in 2012. He was asked to form and lead Hisbah because he was popular with his own community, the prosecution said. | Filling out Mr. Mahdi’s portrait, they said he was from Timbuktu, where he had worked as a teacher and was known for his religious knowledge. Prosecutors said he had spent time in Libya and Saudi Arabia. He joined Ansar Dine, the Islamist group allied with the North African affiliate of Al Qaeda known as Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, as the groups overran Timbuktu and other places in northern Mali in 2012. He was asked to form and lead Hisbah because he was popular with his own community, the prosecution said. |
| The Hisbah members, carrying guns over their shoulders, became widely feared as they patrolled the city, reporting men who were found smoking, drinking beer or listening to music; women who were not covered head to toe; or unmarried men and women mingling. The Islamic court regularly meted out public floggings for minor infractions, and ordered the public to attend extreme punishments — for example, the amputation of a hand of a young man caught stealing, and the stoning death of a couple accused of having children out of wedlock. | The Hisbah members, carrying guns over their shoulders, became widely feared as they patrolled the city, reporting men who were found smoking, drinking beer or listening to music; women who were not covered head to toe; or unmarried men and women mingling. The Islamic court regularly meted out public floggings for minor infractions, and ordered the public to attend extreme punishments — for example, the amputation of a hand of a young man caught stealing, and the stoning death of a couple accused of having children out of wedlock. |
| After the hearings in The Hague, a panel of three judges must decide whether the prosecution’s evidence against Mr. Mahdi is sufficient to bring him to trial. | After the hearings in The Hague, a panel of three judges must decide whether the prosecution’s evidence against Mr. Mahdi is sufficient to bring him to trial. |
| Fourteen of the destroyed shrines have been recently rebuilt by local masons using traditional methods, with the help of foreign donors. | Fourteen of the destroyed shrines have been recently rebuilt by local masons using traditional methods, with the help of foreign donors. |