Mr Ghaly, also known as "Abou Fadl”, was born in the Kidal region, is of Malian nationality, of Tuareg ethnicity, and a member of the Ifoghas tribe. There are reasonable grounds to believe that he would be the undisputed leader of Ansar Eddine, which at the time had control of Timbuktu, Mali, jointly with Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb ("AQIM").
Mr Ghaly is suspected of being responsible for the following crimes:
-
war crimes: murder of soldiers placed hors de combat in Aguelhoc; rape, sexual slavery and any other form of sexual violence; violence to person (mutilation, cruel treatment and torture) and outrages upon personal dignity (humiliating and degrading treatment); intentionally directing attacks against buildings dedicated to religion and historic monuments; and
-
crimes against humanity: imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty; rape, sexual slavery and any other form of sexual violence; torture; other inhumane acts causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health; persecution on religious grounds; and persecution of women and girls on gender grounds.
