ICC convicts former Central African Republic militia leader

The International Criminal Court on Wednesday 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. Mahamat Said Abdel Kani oversaw brutal detention tactics, including torture, at Bangui facility, ICC judges rule.