THE HAGUE — Judges found Said guilty of overseeing the operations of a Seleka detention center where supporters of then-President Francois Bozize were held. The 56-year-old former commander was acquitted of three war crimes charges after judges ruled that the armed conflict had ended when some of the alleged offenses occurred.

Said appeared in court wearing jeans and a blue sweatshirt as the verdict was delivered. He shook his head when the judges read their decision, having denied the charges throughout the proceedings. A separate hearing will determine his sentence.

Judge Miatta Maria Samba stated that Said oversaw torture at the Central Office for the Repression of Banditry. "The floor was covered in waste, and it smelled of faeces and urine," she said while describing conditions inside the facility.

Witnesses testified that they were confined in a windowless room beneath the floorboards of Said’s office. Detainees were whipped, waterboarded, and bound using a method called "Arbatacher", in which detainees’ hands, elbows and feet are tied together behind their backs. Witnesses said they were whipped until they soiled themselves.

Some prisoners were held in underground cells with no bathrooms or showers. Witnesses described cramped cells with walls marked by bullet holes and blood. A victim described how his life had been destroyed by the mistreatment endured during his detention.

The Seleka coalition ousted President Bozize in March 2013, leading to a power vacuum and widespread violence across the country. Séléka was an alliance of rebel militia groups that subjugated the Central African Republic on 24 March 2013. During the 2013 conflict in the Central African Republic, the Seleka coalition was responsible for numerous human rights violations, including the arbitrary detention and torture of civilians suspected of supporting the previous government.

Bozize armed the "anti-Balaka" militia in response to the Seleka coup. The conflict following the 2013 coup killed thousands of people. French troops helped secure the Central African Republic in 2014 under a United Nations mandate.

In 2014, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Said, who was accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed as a Seleka commander in Bangui in 2013. The ICC has investigated violence in the Central African Republic since 2014. Said is the first Seleka member to be convicted by the ICC.

The ICC previously convicted anti-Balaka leader Patrice-Edouard Ngaissona and sentenced him to 12 years. The Central African Republic has experienced relative stability since a 2019 peace agreement.

Why It Matters

This conviction marks a development in the judicial response to the 2013 conflict, as Mahamat Said Abdel Kani becomes the first Seleka member convicted by the International Criminal Court. Previous convictions involved leaders from the opposing anti-Balaka militia, establishing a pattern of accountability for both sides of the sectarian violence that destabilized the nation.

The ruling reflects the court's ongoing investigation into atrocities committed during one of the most violent periods in the Central African Republic's history. With a separate sentencing hearing pending, the case continues to address the severe human rights violations documented by witnesses and victims who suffered under the detention regime in Bangui.

Timeline

In 2013, the Seleka coalition ousted President Bozize, an event that triggered widespread violence. On 24 March 2013, Séléka, an alliance of rebel militia groups, subjugated the Central African Republic. During this period, supporters of then-President Bozize were detained and tortured at the facility.

Detainees were subjected to methods such as "Arbatacher", where hands, elbows and feet were tied together behind their backs.

In 2014, French troops helped secure the Central African Republic under a United Nations mandate.

What's New

Further context reveals that the ICC previously convicted two anti-Balaka leaders, Alfred Yekatom and Patrice-Edouard Ngaïssona, for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the 2013 conflict in the Central African Republic. Records show that in 2014, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Mahamat Said Abdel Kani, who was accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed as a Seleka commander in Bangui in 2013. A separate hearing will determine Mahamat Said Abdel Kani's sentence. The Central African Republic has experienced multiple coups and political instability since its independence in 1960, with the 2013 conflict being one of the most violent periods in its history. Bozize is identified as the 6th President of the Central African Republic.