Just days after authorities in Mali handed Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz to the custody of International Criminal Court in The Hague, the Islamist militant alleged to have committed war crimes.

He was indicted by the ICC for having served as the de-facto head of the religious police when the jihadist group known as Ansar Dine, took control of Timbuktu back in 2012.

Among the charges levied against him; destruction of cultural monuments and enforcing policies leading to the sexual enslavement of women and girls. Al Hassan is being accused by prosecutors for being part of a militant insurgency that seized the nation’s capital and destabilized the government in 2012.

In his first appearance the international tribunal, Al Hassan is informed of all the allegations lodged at him in the arrest warrant and his identity verified by the Hague-based court. A plea is not expected of him during this time.

Timbuktu, known for religious sites stretching back to the 14th century fell in the hands of Ansar Dine. The group enforced its version of Sharia Law. Women were forced into marriages, rape and sexual slavery were encouraged, unveiled women were jailed and sometimes beaten.

Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi was imprisoned for nine years by the ICC after pleading guilty to destroying cultural heritage sites in Mali last year. He is widely expected to be called up as a witness in the trial of Al Hassan.

Human rights activists in Mali have welcomed the indictment of Al Hassan, though they’ve been initially critical of the Prosecutor’s inability to broaden the scope, suggested the alleged crimes were specifically gender-based and sexual by nature.

Neba Benson,

BaretaNews Foreign Correspondent/Analyst