ICC Convicts Former Central African Militia Leader of Crimes Against Humanity

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has convicted former Central African Republic militia commander Mahamat Said Abdel Kani of crimes against humanity committed during the country’s civil war in 2013.

Judges at the ICC in The Hague on Wednesday found the 56-year-old guilty of overseeing a detention facility in Bangui, where supporters of then-President François Bozizé were reportedly detained and subjected to torture.

Judge Miatta Maria Samba said detainees were beaten, whipped, waterboarded and subjected to a form of torture known as “Arbatacher”, in which their hands, elbows and feet were tied together behind their backs.

Some prisoners were also held in underground cells without bathrooms or showers, with the court hearing that the floors were covered with human waste.

Said, a senior member of the Seleka rebel coalition that ousted Bozizé in 2013, denied the allegations. He was acquitted of three war-crimes charges after judges determined that the armed conflict had already ended when some of the alleged offences took place.

The ICC will hold a separate hearing to determine his sentence.

The Seleka takeover plunged the Central African Republic into a conflict that killed thousands of people. Bozizé later armed the anti-Balaka militia, contributing to further violence before French troops intervened in 2014 under a United Nations mandate.

Said is the first former Seleka member to be convicted by the ICC. The court has previously convicted two anti-Balaka leaders over violence in the country.

The Central African Republic has experienced relative stability since a 2019 peace agreement.

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