Religious heritage war crimes case

The International Criminal Court in The Hague (ICC) has launched its first war crimes case for destroying religious heritage, arraigning an Islamist militant accused of wrecking nine tombs of Sufi saints and a mosque in Timbuktu, Mali, writes Tom Heneghan. 

Intentional attacks against historic monuments and buildings dedicated to religion are war crimes affecting “humanity as a whole” said ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda.”

The case against Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi, who headed a brigade enforcing sharia law on the city in 2012, could create a precedent in international law.