The International Criminal Court (ICC) has found a commander of the Central African Republic’s Seleka militia guilty of crimes against humanity, including torture.
Judges at The Hague delivered the verdict on Wednesday, finding Mahamat Said Abdel Kani responsible for his role in operating a Seleka detention centre in Bangui, where individuals suspected of supporting then-President Francois Bozize were detained and subjected to torture during the country’s 2013 civil war.
Said, 56, was cleared of three war crimes charges after the judges determined that the armed conflict had ended by the time some of the alleged offences were committed.
The court will hold a separate hearing to determine his sentence.
Judge Miatta Maria Samba said Said supervised acts of torture at the Central Office for the Repression of Banditry, where detainees were reportedly beaten with whips, subjected to waterboarding and restrained using a technique known as “Arbatacher”, which involves tying a person’s hands, elbows and feet together behind the back.
Some detainees were also confined in underground cells without access to toilets or bathing facilities.
“The floor was covered in waste, and it smelled of faeces and urine,” Samba said.
She added that one victim recounted how the abuse had devastated his life.
Said, who has denied the allegations, was present in court wearing jeans and a blue sweatshirt and showed little visible reaction as the verdict was announced.
He was a senior member of the Seleka coalition, which overthrew Bozize in 2013 and triggered a conflict that resulted in the deaths of thousands of people.
Bozize’s response included arming the “anti-Balaka” militia, leading to further violence before French forces intervened in 2014 to help stabilise the country under a United Nations mandate.
The ICC has been investigating violence in the Central African Republic since 2014 and has previously convicted two anti-Balaka commanders. They include former Sports Minister Patrice-Edouard Ngaissona, who received a 12-year prison sentence, and former lawmaker Alfred Yekatom, who was sentenced to 15 years.
Said is the first former Seleka member to be convicted by the ICC.
The Central African Republic has enjoyed relative stability since a peace agreement was signed in 2019.
