Al Mahdi Case: ICC Trust Fund for Victims Delivers Collective Reparations to Timbuktu Community
During a joint mission to Timbuktu, Mali, with representatives from the Malian government, the International Criminal Court’s Trust Fund for Victims, along with its partners, has delivered a significant portion of the collective reparations’ measures mandated by the ICC in the Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi case. This initiative marks the commencement of the final phase of the reparation process, which is set to conclude in December 2025. The measures include the establishment of a memorial, the reconstruction of a mausoleum, an extension to the municipal museum, and various heritage protection initiatives.
The governor of the Timbuktu region, Bakoun Kanté, inaugurated a monument to the memory of the victims of crimes committed by Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi on Wednesday, 3 October 2024. The memorial, entitled Louha, which in Arabic means the Koranic tablet, was erected in the Diamane Hana public square. It symbolises the resilience of the Timbuktu community in the face of the crimes it suffered in 2012.
“This monument is a significant symbol for the city of Timbuktu and for Mali as a whole. It serves as both a place of remembrance after the crimes committed here in 2012, particularly the destruction of the mausoleums, and a celebration of what defines the identity of this city: erudition and openness to the world,” said Mr. Bakoun Kanté, governor of the Timbuktu region.
The erection of this monument is the result of extensive consultations carried out with all eight neighbourhoods of the city and the diaspora in Bamako since August 2021 by CFOGRAD, an implementing partner of the Trust Fund for Victims in Timbuktu, in accordance with the Reparations Order rendered by the ICC Trial Chamber VIII on 17 August 2017. In this decision, the Chamber recognised that the crimes committed by Mr. Al Faqi Al Mahdi had caused moral harm to the community, prompting a community-based commemoration measure.
Inscription at the base of the Louha memorial
In March 2023, the communal commemoration committee set up to this end decided, in addition to the creation of this monument, to add a room to the Timbuktu municipal museum dedicated to the mausoleums. The room was officially handed over on 4 October 2024 and will house its own exhibition, contributing to the educational transmission of the city’s cultural and religious heritage.
Among the collective reparations decided by the judges was the restoration of the heritage destroyed in 2012. A significant portion of this had already been rebuilt since 2012. The Trust Fund for Victims also took charge of rebuilding the mausoleum of Sheikh Mohamed Mahmoud Al Arawani, which had been completely destroyed and was handed over to his descendants on 3 October 2024.
Heritage protection measures carried out by UNESCO, a partner of the Trust Fund for Victims, included the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the boundary walls of the Sidi Mahamoud Ben Omar Mohamed Aquit and Sheikh Sidi El Mokhtar Ben Sidi Mouhammad Al Kabir Al Kounti cemeteries which house several mausoleums, as well as the tree planting at the Three Saints and Alpha Moya cemeteries. These initiatives were delivered on the same day to the city authorities and aim to protect the mausoleums in the future and allow the community to enjoy its heritage.
“The restoration of this heritage, both the mausoleums and their immediate surroundings, is a relief and a response to the harm caused by its destruction and desecration. As descendants of Alpha Moya and members of the Timbuktu community, my family and I are now at peace with our family history and the history of our town, especially as we have participated in every stage of the reparations and our observations have always been taken into consideration,” said Mr. Sane Chrfi, head of family and descendant of Alpha Moya.
In response to the consequential economic loss resulting from crimes for which Mr. Al Faqi Al Mahdi’s was convicted, the Court’s judges also ordered that socio-economic measures be taken to mitigate the impact on the city’s population. In this context, the CIDEAL Foundation, also a partner of the Trust Fund for Victims, is supporting 42 projects, selected from nearly 150 after a participatory process, for a total of 273,000,000 XOF (around 417,000 EUR). Eleven projects aim to strengthen social cohesion, four to protect the environment, one to promote cultural heritage, and 23 to support productive sectors. These projects were officially launched during the mission and will run until December 2025.
“The delivery of these collective reparations to the Timbuktu community marks an essential step in the implementation of the reparations decided by the judges in this case. Following the completion of individual reparations in June 2024, the final phase of this process now begins, with measures to support economic activity. By December 2025, this reparations programme initiated by the Trust Fund for Victims in 2019 is scheduled to be completed”, said Mrs. Minou Tavárez Mirabal, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Trust Fund for Victims.
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