The previous head of the Central African Republic (CAR) soccer federation, Patrice-Edouard Ngaïssona, has been discovered responsible of committing 28 battle crimes and crimes in opposition to humanity by judges on the Worldwide Prison Court docket (ICC).
He was accused, alongside Alfred Yekatom, of co-ordinating assaults in opposition to the nation’s Muslim inhabitants in 2013-14.
Yekatom, nicknamed Rambo, was discovered responsible of 20 prices. The judges gave their verdict after a trial lasting nearly 4 years involving greater than 170 witnesses and almost 20,000 objects of proof.
Ngaïssona was sentenced to 12 years and Yekatom 15 years.
Violence has gripped the CAR for a lot of the previous decade, however a current peace deal led to the dissolution of two insurgent teams this month.
CAR was plunged into turmoil in 2013 when predominately Muslim rebels from the Séléka group seized energy within the majority Christian nation.
A band of largely Christian militias, referred to as the anti-Balaka, rose as much as counter Séléka after then-President François Bozizé was ousted.
Ngaïssona and Yekatom had been convicted of quite a few crimes, together with homicide, torture and persecuting a spiritual group.
Ngaïssona was acquitted of rape, whereas Yekatom was cleared of enlisting youngsters as troopers.
Each males had denied all prices.
The prosecution set out the alleged system of command, saying Ngaïssona offered funds and directions to anti-Balaka teams in 2013 and 2014.
Yekatom was a commander who allegedly led fighters into the capital, Bangui, on 5 December 2013 the place civilians had been slaughtered.
The prosecution mentioned the pair’s technique was to make all Muslims their goal, describing them as “enemies of the nation”.
Yekatom authorised his fighters to assault Muslim civilians, together with to slit throats, reduce off ears and bury folks alive, the prosecution alleged.
Requested to enter a plea firstly of the trial, each males rejected all the fees.
Media stories on the time signifies that a minimum of 1,000 folks had been killed in tit-for-tat clashes in Bangui in December 2013, and half town’s inhabitants fled in that month alone.
Who’s Patrice-Edouard Ngaïssona?
He was the self-declared political co-ordinator of anti-Balaka forces.
Ngaïssona was barred from working for CAR president in 2015 due to his alleged function within the atrocities.
He’s a former head of the CAR’s soccer federation and briefly served as sports activities minister earlier than being elected to the chief committee of the Confederation of African Soccer (Caf) in February 2018.
His appointment was criticised by a number of human rights teams.
“If the allegations had been true, I would not be right here in the present day,” he instructed AFP information company on the time. “[I don’t] combine politics and sport – all the things I’ve finished has been for the great of my nation.”
French authorities arrested him in December 2018 and he was transferred to the ICC in January 2019.
Who’s Alfred Yekatom?
Yekatom was elected as an MP in 2016, regardless of being topic to UN sanctions.
He was arrested in October 2018 after he fired a gun in parliament, then ran away, after a row with a fellow MP.
His extradition to the ICC was the primary from CAR.
The Worldwide Federation for Human Rights (recognized by its French acronym FIDH) mentioned it signalled the authorities there have been dedicated to combating impunity.
Extra about CAR from the BBC:
[Getty Images/BBC]
Go to BBCAfrica.com for extra information from the African continent.
Comply with us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Fb at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica
BBC Africa podcasts
