The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued its reparations order on April 28, 2026, in the Al Hassan case concerning crimes committed in Timbuktu (northern Mali) between 2012 and 2013.
The order set the convicted man’s financial responsibility at over €7 million and provided for both collective and individual reparations for the victims.
Trial Chamber X of the ICC delivered the reparations order in the case of Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud during a public hearing. The crimes in question were committed between April 2, 2012, and January 29, 2013, a period when Timbuktu was under the control of armed groups affiliated with Ansar Dine and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
The Chamber established a set of reparations measures for the victims, estimated at approximately 65,202 people. It prioritized a collective, community-based approach, complemented by targeted, individualized measures, primarily focused on rehabilitation. Symbolic reparations were also planned to acknowledge the violations suffered, preserve the dignity of the victims, and support initiatives for remembrance and social cohesion within the Timbuktu community.
Mr. Al Hassan’s financial responsibility was set at approximately €7,250,000, or nearly 4.75 billion CFA francs. Given his financial indigence, the implementation of reparations was entrusted to the Trust Fund for Victims, which is responsible for developing and deploying programmes in consultation with the victims and the communities concerned.
The Chamber further invited this Fund to mobilize additional resources from states, international organisations, and private partners to cover all identified needs.
The rehabilitation measures include socio-economic support, educational and training programmes, and psychological support. The Chamber also emphasized that women and girls have suffered specific harms related to the crime of persecution on religious grounds, which must be fully taken into account in the implementation of programmes.
Victims who have suffered violence amounting to torture, mutilation, or other serious harm will receive more individualized support.
This order follows a process initiated after Mr. Al Hassan’s conviction on June 26, 2024, for crimes against humanity and war crimes. On November 20, 2024, he was sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment. On December 17, 2024, the Prosecution and the Defence waived their right to appeal, making the decision final.
Observations regarding reparations were submitted in 2025, prior to a dedicated hearing held in September of that year.
The Chamber set January 25, 2027, as the deadline for the Trust Fund to submit a detailed plan for the implementation of reparations to victims. The parties also have thirty days to appeal the order.
The Al Hassan case is the second case involving a Malian national to result in a conviction followed by a reparations phase before the ICC, after that of Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi, convicted in 2016 for the destruction of cultural property in Timbuktu.
This decision comes in a particular regional context: Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger announced their withdrawal from the ICC on September 22, 2025, in a joint statement issued by the States of the Alliance of Sahel States. In accordance with the Rome Statute, this withdrawal will only take effect one year after its official notification to the United Nations.
MD/te/fss/gik/APA