ICC convicts Central African Republic rebel leader

THE HAGUE: The International Criminal Court on Wednesday (Sep 23) convicted a former Central African Republic rebel commander on four counts of crimes against humanity including torture and unlawful imprisonment.

The ICC found that Mahamat Said Abdel Kani, 56, oversaw beatings and maltreatment as head of a feared prison unit as the CAR spiralled into civil war in 2013.

Wearing a blue sweatshirt and jeans, Said shook his head multiple times in the courtroom as presiding judge Miatta Maria Samba detailed the crimes.

The ICC will deliver a sentence for the crimes at a later date. Said was also acquitted of three counts of war crimes.

Said ran the Central Office for the Repression of Banditry (OCRB) detention centre in the capital Bangui where horrific acts of torture and deprivation were inflicted on prisoners.

Samba said a frequently used torture method was "arbatachar", in which prisoners' hands, elbows, and feet were tied tightly together behind their backs.

Others were beaten with ropes and whips, and doused in water, said Samba.

The court acknowledged the suffering and trauma of the victims, who testified about the long-lasting impact of the crimes on them, their families and their lives.

Samba cited one victim as saying he had been "completely unbalanced and that his life had been completely destroyed by the mistreatment he suffered."

Said kept some detainees in a cramped cell under his office without sanitary facilities, according to the ruling.

"Detainees had to urinate and defecate inside the underground cell. The underground cell was dark, cramped, dirty, and insufficiently ventilated," she said.

"The floor was covered in waste and it smelled of faeces and urine."

Said was involved in the interrogation and mistreatment of detainees and present when they were being tortured, the judge ruled.

"ANTI-BALAKA"

Said was a top commander of the mainly Muslim Seleka rebel group that ousted president Francois Bozize and plunged one of the world's poorest countries into a bloody sectarian conflict.

The Seleka overthrow of Bozize sparked a catastrophic civil war in the country of some five million people, with thousands of civilians losing their lives and war crimes alleged on both sides.

Bozize set up militias dominated by Christians and animists, known as "anti-Balakas", to regain power.

French troops under a UN mandate helped the government secure the main cities from 2014.

The country has stabilised since a peace agreement was signed in Khartoum in 2019.

President Faustin-Archange Touadera has won three terms in office, touting his efforts to steady the nation after decades of conflict.

In Bangui, some victims' associations voiced disappointment that the war crimes charges had been dismissed.

"Our reaction... is one of dismay. Why? Because the court rejected several of the charges. So will the sentence be less?" asked Landry Makokpala, from the association of victims from crises in Central Africa.

"It's not what we expected as victims," Makokpala told AFPTV.

Last year, the ICC convicted two top anti-Balaka figures for war crimes.

Ex-sports minister Patrice-Edouard Ngaissona was a senior anti-Balaka leader, while Alfred Yekatom, a former MP, commanded them on the ground.

The ICC sentenced Yekatom to 15 years behind bars for 20 war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder and torture.

Ngaissona received 12 years for 28 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Set up in 2002, the ICC is the world's only independent tribunal capable of prosecuting those accused of the world's worst crimes.

Fernand Mande Njapou, from a civil society organisation in CAR, said Wednesday's verdict was a source of pride for victims.

"But I know there are other big fish out there. We ask the ICC to get their hands on those big fish," he told AFPTV.