ICC jails former football chief for war crimes

Patrice-Edouard Ngaissona and an associate have been found guilty of multiple charges, including murder

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has sentenced the former chief of the Central African Republic (CAR) football federation, Patrice-Edouard Ngaissona, to prison after finding him guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Ngaissona was convicted alongside Alfred Yekatom, a rebel leader known as ‘Rambo’, during a ruling in The Hague on Thursday, with judges handing them prison terms of 12 and 15 years respectively.

“The convictions were across multiple charges, including murder, attacks against a civilian population, forcible transfer, torture and other inhumane acts, and persecution,” the court said in a press release.

The charges relate to their roles as leaders of a Christian-dominated armed group called Anti-balaka (meaning ‘anti-machete’), which carried out deadly attacks against Muslim communities in the Central African Republic between December 2013 and December 2014. Anti-balaka was formed in 2013 to counter the Muslim-majority Seleka coalition, which seized power after ousting then-President Francois Bozize.

Prosecutors accused Ngaissona, also a former government minister, of supplying funds and weapons to Anti-balaka units operating in towns including Bossangoa, Gaga, and Berberati. Yekatom, a former parliamentarian, is said to have commanded an estimated 3,000 fighters and directed attacks in areas such as the capital, Bangui, and Lobaye. According to court documents, witnesses described his forces using grenades, machetes, and assault rifles in raids that terrorized Muslim civilians.

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Both men had pleaded not guilty when the trial opened in February 2021, after being extradited to The Hague. The ICC said it heard from around 75 witnesses, including victims and insiders from the armed groups.

“The Chamber found Mr Ngaissona and Mr Yekatom guilty beyond any reasonable doubt of a number of war crimes and crimes against humanity,” the court stated.

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The Central African Republic has experienced decades of militant violence and political insecurity, including six coups, since gaining independence from France in 1960. UN peacekeepers have been deployed under the Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission (MINUSCA) since 2014, but rebel violence against the government has persisted.