Judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Thursday convicted two militia leaders of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Patrice-Edouard Ngaissona, a former football official, was sentenced to 12 years, while militia commander Alfred Yekatom, known as “Rambo,” received a 15-year term.
What war crimes took place in the Central African Republic?
The court found both men guilty of directing a brutal campaign of violence in 2013 and 2014, including murder, torture, persecution, and the forcible transfer of Muslim civilians.
The men were leaders of the mostly Christian “anti-Balaka” militias. Both had pleaded not guilty when their trial began in 2021.
Ngaissona, who judges said played a long-term leadership role in the movement, received the lower sentence.
Yekatom, who commanded around 3,000 fighters and was found to have encouraged atrocities by his forces, was sentenced to the higher term.
The anti-Balaka movement emerged in 2013 in response to violence and abuses committed by predominantly Muslim Seleka rebels, who had seized power in March of that year. The resulting conflict saw widespread communal violence and displacement, with Muslim communities bearing the brunt of reprisal attacks.
Presiding judge Bertram Schmitt recounted harrowing acts of brutality committed by the anti-Balaka militia against suspected Seleka Muslims. He said fighters under Yekatom’s command tortured one man by cutting off his fingers, toes, and an ear before he disappeared; his body was never recovered. Other victims were killed and then mutilated.
The ICC has been investigating the conflict since May 2014. A separate trial of a former Seleka leader is ongoing at the court in The Hague.
The court acquitted Yekatom of conscripting child soldiers and found Ngaissona not guilty of rape. Both men had pleaded not guilty to all charges.
What has happened since the Central African conflict?
Yekatom was extradited to The Hague in late 2018 after being arrested in the Central African Republic for firing his gun inside the national parliament.
Ngaissona was arrested in France in December 2018 and also transferred to the ICC. He had at the time been serving as the head of the country’s football association and a board member of the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
The Central African Republic, one of the world’s poorest countries, has faced decades of instability, marked by coups, authoritarian rule, and repeated cycles of civil conflict since gaining independence in 1960. While violence has declined in recent years, in remote areas between rebel factions and government forces, which receive support from and Rwandan troops.
The International Criminal Court, established in 2002, is the world’s only permanent court with the mandate to prosecute individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and aggression.
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