First trial against a former Seleka militiaman before the International Criminal Court

Mahamat Saïd Abdel Kani before the ICC, October 12, 2021. © Screenshot/ICC

Text by: Stéphanie Maupas Follow

7 mins

The trial of Central African Mahamat Saïd Abdel Kani is due to open this Monday, September 26 before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.

First of the leaders of the former Seleka coalition behind the bars of the ICC, “

” is accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

They were allegedly committed when he headed the Central Office for the Suppression of Banditry (OCRB), after Michel Djotodia took power in March 2013.

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From our correspondent in The Hague

,

Mahamat Said was a commander and deputy chief.

And the shadow of his direct superior,

, will undoubtedly hang over this trial.

The crimes alleged against “

” Saïd date back to the spring of 2013, when a coalition of several parties, the Seleka, overthrew General François Bozizé.

Michel Djotodia took the head of the country and rewarded some of his commanders, including Nourredine Adam, who inherited the portfolio of Public Security.

Placed under his orders, Mahamat Saïd, the accused, then directs “

” the Central Office for the Suppression of Banditry (OCRB), we read in the brief of the prosecution.

At the time, the population had to be brought to heel and all opposition had to be nipped in the bud.

The ousted president, François Bozizé withdrew to Cameroon to reform his troops, the anti-Balakas, and prepare the counter-offensive.

To "

", the Seleka is cracking down on supposed supporters of Mr. Bozizé.

Members of his ethnic group, the gbaya, are targeted, like Christians and certain officers and members of the Presidential Guard, suspected of loyalty to the fallen general.

In the months following the coup, disarmament operations targeted the 4th and 7th arrondissements of Bangui, reputedly pro-Bozizé, the PK9 crossroads, and the Boy Rabe district, where the militiamen indulged in "

to loot, beat, rape, kill.

The Seleka militiamen travel in "

", with tinted windows, without license plates, and flanked by inscriptions such as "S'en fout la mort", or "Danger de mort, lawa , lawa [You will be found]”.

The detainees are taken to the CEDAD, the Extraordinary Committee for the Defense of Democratic Achievements, and to the OCRB, located opposite the police headquarters and close to the presidential palace in Bangui.

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Torture, persecution, cruel treatment

This is where the imprisonment, cruel treatment, torture and persecution for which Mahamat Saïd is accused by the ICC prosecutor's office were allegedly committed.

At the OCRB, the “colonel” has an office there, placed “

”.

Between April 12 and August 30, 2013, he directs, orders, participates in and incites crimes, writes the prosecutor in his brief.

He will leave the place on August 30, on the decision of Michel Djotodia, following “

”.

That same day, Mahamat Saïd reportedly received, during a ceremony, “

” from the hands of the Head of State, to be distributed to Seleka soldiers.

Before that and for five months, Mahamat Saïd would have had

" over the approximately 35 to 60 Seleka militiamen stationed at the OCRB.

“ 

 ”, assures the prosecutor.

But what happened behind the high walls of the OCRB?

During the trial which opens, and which should last several months, the prosecutor intends to rely on 85 witnesses, but only 18 of them should come and testify in person in front of the judges and the accused in The Hague.

To the investigators, they recounted the life crammed into seven cells, dark and cramped, as well as in a dungeon placed under the chief's office.

Men pile up there, sometimes with rats or lizards.

Without toilets, they are condemned to drink their urine.

It was Mahamat Saïd who, according to the prosecution, "

".

Others are whipped there, "

», beaten on the soles of the feet, burned.

Some had their ears partially gouged out with pliers.

Others are subjected to “arbatachar”, a method of torture which consists of binding together, behind the back, the wrists and calves of a detainee.

“

, accuses the prosecutor,

”.

When Mahamat Saïd headed the OCRB, at least sixteen people are said to have suffered the “arbatachar”.

To one of the militiamen, worried, he would have replied that "

".

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Defense criticizes investigation

The biggest enemy of the prosecutor in the Saïd case could be the structural disorder that the contemporary Central African Republic is going through.

A disorder fueled by small warlords, who have shared the armed and political scene for sometimes three decades.

To demonstrate that war crimes have indeed been committed, the prosecutor must in particular prove that armed groups were in conflict, and that there was a command structure.

In its brief, the prosecution finds that “ 

.

" But for the defenders of the accused, "

”.

This will not be the only difficulty of the prosecution.

The war crimes with which the accused was charged were allegedly committed in the context of an internal armed conflict, the prosecutor argued.

But defense lawyers contest, relying on a report by a United Nations commission of inquiry which, in 2014, based on analyzes by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), estimated that on During this period, the Central African Republic had not experienced armed conflict, but violence.

At the start of the trial, the accused should say that he pleads “not guilty” to the charges.

His lawyers contest the authenticity of the evidence, and accuse the investigators of having relied on the Central African authorities "for the identification" of documents.

Lawyers Jennifer Naouri and Dov Jacobs claim that it is impossible to trace the evidence, while the institutions have been systematically looted, documents or may have been destroyed or manipulated.

This is often the lot of post-war investigations.

The two defenders of Mahamat Saïd still criticize the prosecutor for not having sought to obtain evidence from countries "

", such as Chad, South Africa or Uganda.

Arrested in January 2021 and sent to The Hague, Mahamat Saïd was also to answer for crimes committed at CEDAD, the Extraordinary Committee for the Defense of Democratic Achievements, but the judges rejected these charges for lack of evidence.

This man from the north of the Central African Republic will appear alone.

Suspected by the Court of war crimes and crimes against humanity, his superior, Nourredine Adam, is on the run.

On the anti-balaka side, a first trial targeting two leaders, Alfred Yekatom and Edouard-Patrice Ngaïssona is open.

One of the commanders, Maxime Mokom, was transferred to the Court last March.

But the charges against him have still not been confirmed and the case drags on, while the judges refuse the lawyer chosen by the accused.

This conflict, opposing Seleka and anti-balakas and on which the Court has been investigating since 2014,

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• Central African Republic

• International Justice

• Francois Bozize

• Human rights

• Michel Djotodia

• Seleka

• anti balaka