Proceedings in this so-called \u201cGuen\u201d trial concluded on June 11 with the judges cross-examining the defendants on facts presented during the seven-week hearing. The trial concerns war crimes and crimes against humanity committed between February and March 2014 in the towns of Gadzi, Guen and Djomo, in western Central African Republic (CAR).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Initially, there were to be six defendants. With one on the run and another having died, there are now four. Three were dressed in orange prison uniforms \u2013 Edmond Beina, Phil\u00e9mon Kahena (alias CB) and Fran\u00e7ois Boybanda (alias Bal\u00e8re) \u2013 whilst Dieudonn\u00e9 Gomitoua appeared as a free man, in civilian clothes. One by one, the judges of the Special Criminal Court (CPS) questioned them over several days regarding the crimes of which they are accused: looting, murder, forced displacement, rape, sexual slavery, extermination, persecution, and inhuman and degrading treatment. All the defendants present pleaded not guilty. To establish their guilt, the prosecution brought around 20 witnesses to Bangui, with the number rising to around 40 as the trial progressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Boybanda: \u201cI was in my field, I know nothing\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Boybanda, a clan leader in the village of Gba\u00efna near Guen, explained to the court on June 11 that he had been \u201cdriven out\u201d of Guen and into his field by the Seleka rebels [a predominantly Muslim coalition], who, he said, beat him and gave him a broken rib in 2013.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWas it to take revenge that you formed an Anti-Balaka group?\u201d asked presiding judge Aim\u00e9 Pascal D\u00e9limo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c<\/strong>No, Your Honour, there has never been an Anti-Balaka group in the region.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c<\/strong>But why do your co-defendants call you Anti-Balaka in their statements?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The defendant remained silent in response to this question. The judge then asked him if he knew his co-defendants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c<\/strong>Yes, Phil\u00e9mon Kahena is chairman of the Guen youth organisation; Edmond Beina is known as an Anti-Balaka leader who came from the T\u00e9doua region in Ombella Mpoko to fight the Seleka forces who were committing atrocities in the region.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat were Beina and his men doing in the town?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI was in my field; I know nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kahena is also accused of leading an Anti-Balaka group. When questioned by the court, he stated that he was working on behalf of the NGO Finn Church Aid, with whom he was documenting cases of human rights violations whilst, as he put it, \u201cadvising\u201d self-defence groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhere were you at the time of the events?\u201d the presiding judge asked him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI was in my field, four kilometres from Guen. I had been staying there for several months with my late mother-in-law, who was ill.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhy did you leave [to return to Guen]?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019d heard news of my younger brother\u2019s death, so I went for the funeral.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWho killed him?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was members of the S\u00e9l\u00e9ka. That is what I was told.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDid you form your group to take revenge?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo, Your Honour. These accusations are unjustly levelled against me. I was working with the Anti-Balaka to bring about peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhy are you called CB?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s the nickname my paternal aunt gave me, because of my resemblance to a brigade commander [CB] stationed in Guen when I was a child. In Guen, there are more than three CBs\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gomitoua, who appeared in court as a free man, is accused of taking part in the killing of more than 40 people at the home of a local chief, Ali Garba, who was sheltering Muslims. During the hearings, this violence committed on his compound \u2013 described by several witnesses as a place of refuge that became a scene of murder \u2013 became a central focus of the trial. Other events have been linked to this core incident: attacks on places of worship, murders and acts of violence in Djomo and Gadzi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gomitoua, a former MP for Guen, is portrayed by his defence as a figure of authority held hostage, powerless in the face of the Anti-Balaka and Beina in particular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAccording to a witness, you told Beina \u2018sara koua ti mon\u2019 (\u201cdo your job\u201d). What did you mean by that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYour Honour, I begged him not to carry out this massacre, but he did not understand me. Having lost patience, I therefore told him to do as he pleased, whilst knowing that one day justice would be done. That is the meaning of my words.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDid you have a weapon in your hand?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo, Your Honour. I was taken away on a motorbike whilst I was ill; it was Mayor Trixi who sent for me to intervene as a community leader.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWho killed all those people?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was Beina and his men. He is indeed an Anti-Balaka leader. I saw him armed on several occasions. I also saw him kill people in cold blood.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t Several witnesses stated during the trial that they had seen Beina giving orders, gathering men together and ordering their execution. When asked whether there was a hierarchy within the Anti-Balaka, a Muslim shopkeeper replied in the affirmative, naming Beina, Jean Bahara [tried in absentia]\u00a0and Mathurin Kombo [deceased defendant] as influential figures, stating that they travelled together and that Beina called himself \u201cDelta Force\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Presented by the prosecution as the leader of the Anti-Balaka in Guen, Beina did not deny the facts alleged by the witnesses during his cross-examination on June 11. But he was also keen to shift the blame onto his co-accused and say that contrary to his statements \u201cGomitoua, who is my father\u2019s age, had come with a firearm to kill Ali Garba, whom I took it on myself to protect.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhy do you think Gomitoua would have been involved in this massacre?\u201d the presiding judge asked him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA political matter, no doubt. Also, the Muslim community in the region was planning an attack: a stock of ammunition had been found at Ali Garba\u2019s home. Having learnt of these preparations, we decided to act.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWho is \u2018we\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cUs and certain community leaders who said that this region is their heritage, and that they could not stand by and watch outsiders attack the local people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hearings in the Guen trial are due to resume on Monday August 24 with closing arguments from the civil parties, prosecution and defence. They are scheduled to conclude on August 31.<\/p>\n\n\n \u201cPIECES OF EVIDENCE\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n On March 2, 2026, the prosecution presented \u201cevidence against the accused\u201d to the judges of the Special Criminal Court (CPS) in the Guen trial. These include mobile phones of various makes belonging to the defendants. For the defendant Edmond Beina, the court presented a mini transistor radio and a knife. A 50-page notebook brought by a prosecution witness \u2013 a leader of the Muslim community \u2013 was also added, containing 89 names of Muslims said to have lost their lives during the events.<\/p>\n The court also screened three videos. The first shows graves or mass graves of people who lost their lives during the events in Guen. The second shows a telephone conversation in which a man\u2019s voice \u2013 believed to be that of Beina \u2013 confirms the massacre of more than 40 Muslims in Guen. The third video features the testimony of a young Muslim girl who was 12 years old at the time of the events. She states that her father and brother were killed in Guen before her eyes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n![\"Three](\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/Centrafrique_proces-Guen-juges_@Cour-Penale-Speciale.jpg\")
Kahena: \u201cI was working with the Anti-Balaka to bring peace\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Gomitoua: \u201cI saw Beina kill people in cold blood\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Beina: \u201cThe Muslim community was planning an attack\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Toussaint](\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/Republique-Centrafricaine_Toussaint-Muntazini-Mukimapa-CPS-2017-540x360.jpg\")
<\/div><\/a>\r\n\t\t\t