\n The Special Criminal Court, a tribunal set up to judge war crimes and crimes against humanity in Central African Republic, had its mandate extended for a further five years under a law passed Wednesday.\n<\/p>\n
\n The tribunal, set up in 2015 with UN backing, issued its first verdict this year after a long struggle in the face of financial and logistical hurdles and local hostility.\n<\/p>\n
\n On October 31, it issued a life sentence and two 20-year terms against three members of the so-called 3R group, accused of taking part in a massacre in May 2019 in which 46 villagers died.\n<\/p>\n
\n A draft bill put forward by Justice Minister Arnaud Djoubaye Abazene to extend the court's mandate by another five years was approved in a voice vote at the National Assembly.\n<\/p>\n
\n This decision \"marks the will of the Central African people... to continue the fight against impunity indefinitely,\" he said.\n<\/p>\n
\n He warned against those \"plotting against the institutions of the Republic, perpetrating violence and atrocities against peaceful citizens.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n \"They should know that justice will catch up with them.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n Mineral rich but deeply poor, the CAR has enjoyed only a few years of stability since independence from France in 1960.\n<\/p>\n
\n The special court is manned by judges and prosecutors who are a mix of nationals and foreigners from France, Togo and the Democratic Republic of Congo.\n<\/p>\n
\n It began its first investigations in 2018, some three years after it was set up.\n<\/p>\n
\n Its annual budget, worth 12 million euros (dollars), is mainly covered by the United Nations, European Union and United States.\n<\/p>\n
\n Its terms of reference apply to suspected war crimes and crimes against humanity dating back to 2003, when a coup was staged by General Francois Bozize.\n<\/p>\n
\n He in turn was toppled a decade later, and the country spiralled into civil war along sectarian lines.\n<\/p>\n
\n Violence fell back in intensity in 2018 but as recently as early 2021, two-thirds of the country lay in the hands of armed groups spawned in the conflict.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Special Criminal Court, a tribunal set up to judge war crimes and crimes against humanity in Central African Republic, had its mandate extended for a further five years under a law passed Wednesday. The tribunal, set up in 2015 with UN backing, issued its first verdict this year after a long struggle in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-110728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n