Central African Republic

Ndélé 2 trial in the Central African Republic (CAR). 3 defendants dressed as orange prisoners take the stand.

The ‘Ndélé 2’ trial: awaiting the verdict

19 June 2025 by Rodrigue le Roi Benga

Since 2020, the Special Criminal Court has been trying crimes committed in Ndélé, in the north of the Central African Republic. In the first case, four members of the Goula ethnic group were convicted. On 19 June, the verdict is expected against three defendants from the Rounga ethnic group.

Defence lawyers Jennifer Naouri and Dov Jacobs.

The incredible disappearing defence of Said

28 April 2025 by Janet H. Anderson

On March 17 the defence of Central African Mahamat Said Adel Kani presented one witness in support of their client at the International Criminal Court. The trial, which has gone on for several years, may be coming to a precipitate close.

Central African Republic - Patrice-Edouard Ngaïssona and Alfred Rhombot Yekatom before the International Criminal Court (ICC): what sentences could they face?

Last words in the Yekatom and Ngaïssona trial

13 January 2025 by Janet H. Anderson

It is four years that Alfred Rhombot Yekatom and Patrice-Edouard Ngaïssona have been on trial before the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the Central African Republic [...]

International Criminal Court and Special Criminal Court: a duel at the summit of justice in the Central African Republic. Photo: A taxi and a gendarmerie vehicle in a street in Bangui (Central African Republic).

A courts’ chase in Bangui

9 December 2024 by Franck Petit

Last June, the International Criminal Court already knew that it would run out of trials in 2025. At that time, it received a tip-off about the whereabouts of a local anti-balaka leader in the Central African Republic, Edmond Bein [...]

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Ndélé 1 trial before the Special Criminal Court in the Central African Republic: the 4 defendants line up at the bar in orange prison garb.

18 November 2024 by Rodrigue le Roi Benga

Central African Republic: the end of the trial of the four rebels who “did nothing’ The second trial of the Special Criminal Court in Bangui came to an end on Thursday 14 November 2024, after the parties' closing arguments. The verdict will be announced for 13 December 2024 in the so-called “Ndélé 1” case, in whi [...]

Reparations (financial compensation) from the Special Criminal Court (CPS) in the Central African Republic. Photo: A boy pulls two oxen carrying bags of peanuts in Paoua.

15 October 2024 by Rodrigue le Roi Benga

Central African Republic reparations: what victims say about first payments In mid-September, the Special Criminal Court in the Central African Republic announced it had implemented reparations for the victims of two massacres in 2019, the subject of its first trial. What do the beneficiaries have to say [...]

Maxime Mokom, a former Central African minister who was prosecuted and then released by the International Criminal Court, is now seeking compensation. Photo: Mokom before the ICC.

10 September 2024 by Janet H. Anderson

The Mokom fiasco, part 2: everybody did their job, no one needs to know How much should you be compensated if the prosecution of the International Criminal Court (ICC) suddenly decides to stop prosecuting you? In Maxime Mokom’s case, he thinks about 3,5 million euros for him and his family would be su [...]

Ngaïssona testifies at the ICC on his alleged role in crimes committed in the Central African Republic. Photo: Ngaïsonna speaks at the International Criminal Court on August 28, 2024.

30 August 2024 by Janet H. Anderson

At the ICC, Ngaïssona in his own words Patrice-Edouard Ngaïssona, a former minister in Central African Republic, is on trial before the International Criminal Court. On August 28-29 he gave a last-chance, unsworn testimony of his role during the civil war. And nobody r [...]

In the Central African Republic, the eleven commissioners of the Truth, Justice, Reparation and Reconciliation Commission (CVJRR) were dismissed in May 2024. Photo: The commissioners of the CVJRR pose outdoors.

21 June 2024 by Rodrigue le Roi Benga

Central African Republic: why the Truth Commission was dismissed The Truth, Justice, Reparation and Reconciliation Commission (CVJRR) of the Central African Republic has been sacked and replaced. On May 3 2024, it saw a unit of the internal security forces close its offices. Later, the governme [...]

Ndélé 1 trial before the Special Criminal Court (CPS) - Photo: Azor Kalite, Charfadine Moussa, Antar Hamat and Oscar Wordjonodroba stand behind their lawyers in their orange prison uniforms.

30 May 2024 by Rodrigue le Roi Benga

At Ndélé’s first trial, in the Central African Republic On December 5, 2023, the Special Criminal Court (CPS), a UN-backed hybrid tribunal based in Bangui, opened its second trial, devoted to the so-called “Ndélé 1” case, a conflict between communities that claimed the lives of over 80 [...]

In the Central African Republic, the Special Criminal Court (SCC) is expected to decide reparation for victims. Photo: First trial of the Special Criminal Court in Bangui, in 2022.

19 March 2024 by Rodrigue le Roi Benga

Reparations: Special Criminal Court opts for pragmatism One year and six months after its first verdict, handed down in October 2022, the Special Criminal Court (CPS) is expected to carry out one of its most delicate tasks: compensating victims. Reparation for the harm resulting from t [...]

Alfred Yekatom, accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Central African Republic, shakes hands with his lawyer Mylène Dimitri during his trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC).

11 January 2024 by Janet H. Anderson + Margherita Capacci

The controversy on “intermediaries” hits back in the ICC Yekatom trial Alfred Yekatom's defence opened its case early December in The Hague, with a couple of witnesses and a heavy artillery charge against the International Criminal Court prosecutor, accused of having once again used intermediaries an [...]

Mokom case at the ICC: a fiasco - Photo: Maxime Jeoffroy Eli Mokom Gawaka, from the Central African Republic, on trial for crimes committed in the Central African Republic, talks to his lawyers in a courtroom at the International Criminal Court in The Hague (Netherlands).

23 October 2023 by Janet H. Anderson

The Mokom fiasco at the ICC It’s a new blow for the International Criminal Court. On October 16 the Prosecutor announced he was withdrawing all charges against Maxime Mokom, a former minister from Central African Republic. Other cases linked to this country’ [...]

Abdoulaye Hissène accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity by the Special Criminal Court in the Central African Republic - Reading of a report

14 September 2023 by Rodrigue le Roi Benga

Central African Republic: Abdoulaye Hissène caught in Special Criminal Court After failure to arrest Hassan Bouba, Abdoulaye Hissène is the second big fish to be caught by the Special Criminal Court, a hybrid tribunal sitting in Bangui. Hissène, former military leader of the Front populaire pour la renaiss [...]

1st judgement of the Special Criminal Court (SCC) in the Central African Republic - Issa Sallet Adoum watches Mahamat Tahir, lying on the floor, weakened by a hunger strike. These are 2 of the 3 defendants on trial.

Opinion

1 September 2023 by Ghislain Poissonnier

CAR: how Special Criminal Court appeal judges innovated and proposed a model The first final judgment of the Special Criminal Court in the Central African Republic was handed down at the end of July. It corrects the trial court judgment on several points, notably concerning the conviction of Issa Sallet Ad [...]

Judge Aimée-Pascal Delimo (Special Criminal Court / SPC) in the Central African Republic.

19 June 2023 by Franck Petit and Jean-Fernand Koena

Central African Republic: Special Court hands down first reparations decision After several months of hesitation, the Special Criminal Court on June 16 handed down in Bangui a first reparations decision in its first and only trial. This decision does not fully meet the expectations of the victims, who were [...]

Women whose relatives have been victims of violence in the Central African Republic

7 February 2023 by Rodrigue le Roi Benga

Central African Republic: Truth Commission struggles to get off the ground The Truth, Justice, Reparation and Reconciliation Commission presented its activity report to the Central African Republic’s President on December 30, 2022, more than 18 months after it was launched. But the brief account of its a [...]

Victims waiting for reparations in the trial at the Special Criminal Court (CPS) in the Central African Republic

2 February 2023 by Jean-Fernand Koena

Central African Republic: Special Court Faces Reparations Issue On February 2, the Special Criminal Court (SCC) in Bangui is scheduled to hear claims for reparations in the first trial concluded by this UN-backed hybrid court. But legal, procedural, and financial obstacles remain.

Michel Landry Luanga, President of the Special Criminal Court (SCC) in the Central African Republic, delivers a speech during the inauguration of its premises in Bangui in 2020.

17 January 2023 by Franck Petit

Central African Republic: Special Court "in the starting block" (2/2) After completing its first trial in seven years, the Special Criminal Court (SCC), whose mandate has just been renewed, is confident that it can speed up its work. Here are the details of two cases, among the 19 under investigatio [...]