{"id":5213,"date":"2026-09-23T13:19:48","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T13:19:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=5213"},"modified":"2026-09-23T13:19:48","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T13:19:48","slug":"icc-convicts-former-central-african-republic-militia-leader-the-hague-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=5213","title":{"rendered":"ICC convicts former Central African Republic militia leader | The Hague News"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Mahamat Said Abdel Kani oversaw brutal detention tactics, including torture, at Bangui facility, ICC judges rule.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Published On 23 Sep 2026<\/span>23 Sep 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The International Criminal Court (ICC) has convicted a Central African Republic militia commander of crimes against humanity, including torture<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Judges in The Hague on Wednesday found Mahamat Said Abdel Kani guilty over his role of running a Seleka detention facility in Bangui, where supporters of then-President Francois Bozize were rounded up and tortured during the country\u2019s 2013 civil war.<\/p>\n

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Said, 56, was acquitted of three war crimes charges as the judges ruled that the armed conflict had already ended when some of the alleged crimes happened.<\/p>\n

A separate hearing will determine his sentence.<\/p>\n

Judge Miatta Maria Samba said Said oversaw the torture at the Central Office for the Repression of Banditry, where detainees were whipped, waterboarded and bound using a method called \u201cArbatacher\u201d, in which detainees\u2019 hands, elbows and feet are tied together behind their backs.<\/p>\n

Some prisoners were held in underground cells with no bathrooms or showers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe floor was covered in waste, and it smelled of faeces and urine,\u201d Samba said.<\/p>\n

She said a victim described how his life had been destroyed by the mistreatment.<\/p>\n

\"Seleka
Seleka commander Mahamat Said Abdel Kani sits in The Hague courtroom during a hearing in the case in which he is accused of crimes against humanity and war crimes allegedly committed in Bangui in 2013 [Remko De Waal\/Pool Photo via AP]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Said, who denied the charges, appeared in court in jeans and a blue sweatshirt, looking unbothered as he shook his head when the verdict was read.<\/p>\n

He was a senior figure in the Seleka coalition, which ousted Bozize in 2013, plunging the country into a conflict that killed thousands of people.<\/p>\n

Bozize\u2019s response, arming the \u201canti-Balaka\u201d militia, fuelled more bloodshed before French troops helped secure the country in 2014 under a United Nations mandate.<\/p>\n

The ICC has investigated violence in the Central African Republic since 2014 and has already convicted two<\/a> anti-Balaka leaders, including former Sports Minister Patrice-Edouard Ngaissona, who was sentenced to 12 years, and former MP Alfred Yekatom who was sentenced to 15 years.<\/p>\n

Said is the first Seleka member to be convicted.<\/p>\n

The country has experienced relative stability since a 2019 peace agreement.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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Mahamat Said Abdel Kani oversaw brutal detention tactics, including torture, at Bangui facility, ICC judges rule. Published On 23 Sep 202623 Sep 2026 The International Criminal Court (ICC) has convicted a Central African Republic militia commander of crimes against humanity, including torture. Judges in The Hague on Wednesday found Mahamat Said Abdel Kani guilty over…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5214,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-international-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t