Thursday, September 24, 2026 - The International Criminal Court has convicted former Central African Republic rebel commander Mahamat Said Abdel Kani of war crimes and crimes against humanity over the torture and mistreatment of detainees during the country’s civil conflict.
Said, 56, was found responsible for abuses committed while
he headed a unit at the Central Office for the Repression of Banditry detention
centre in the capital, Bangui, as the Central African Republic descended into
civil war in 2013. The court found that Said oversaw beatings, torture and
other forms of mistreatment at the detention facility.
Said shook his head several times in the courtroom as
presiding judge Miatta Maria Samba detailed the crimes for which he was
convicted. The ICC will impose his sentence at a later date. He was also
acquitted of three war crimes charges. According to the ruling, detainees at
the OCRB facility were subjected to severe physical abuse and degrading
conditions.
Samba said one method of torture frequently used at the
facility was known as “arbatachar,” in which prisoners’ hands, elbows and feet
were tightly bound together behind their backs. Other detainees were beaten
with ropes and whips or doused with water. The court heard testimony from
victims who described the lasting physical and psychological consequences of
the abuse.
Samba cited one victim as saying he had been left
“completely unbalanced” and that his life had been “completely destroyed” by
the mistreatment he suffered. The court also found that some prisoners were
confined in a cramped underground cell beneath Said’s office without adequate
sanitation.
“Detainees had to urinate and defecate inside the
underground cell. The underground cell was dark, cramped, dirty, and
insufficiently ventilated,” Samba said. “The floor was covered in waste and it
smelled of faeces and urine.”
Judges found that Said participated in the interrogation and
mistreatment of detainees and was present when prisoners were tortured. Said
was a senior figure in the predominantly Muslim Seleka rebel coalition, which
overthrew then-president François Bozizé in 2013.
The overthrow contributed to a devastating sectarian
conflict in the Central African Republic, with thousands of civilians killed
and serious abuses attributed to armed groups on opposing sides. Following
Bozizé’s removal, predominantly Christian and animist militias known as the
anti-Balaka emerged and fought against Seleka forces.
French troops operating under a United Nations mandate later
helped the government regain control of major cities from 2014. The country
subsequently signed a peace agreement in Khartoum in 2019. The ICC has also
prosecuted senior figures from the anti-Balaka movement
In 2025, the court convicted former Central African Republic
sports minister Patrice-Edouard Ngaïssona and former lawmaker Alfred Yekatom of
war crimes and crimes against humanity. Yekatom was sentenced to 15 years in
prison after being convicted of 20 counts of war crimes and crimes against
humanity, including murder and torture, while Ngaïssona received a 12-year
sentence after being convicted on 28 counts.
Established in 2002, the International Criminal Court
prosecutes individuals accused of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes
and the crime of aggression when its jurisdictional requirements are met.
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