{"id":75300,"date":"2021-03-25T11:37:59","date_gmt":"2021-03-25T10:37:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/?p=75300"},"modified":"2021-03-25T18:34:44","modified_gmt":"2021-03-25T17:34:44","slug":"car-ii-icc-prosecutor-demonstrate-plans-messy-civil-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/75300-car-ii-icc-prosecutor-demonstrate-plans-messy-civil-war.html","title":{"rendered":"CAR-II: ICC prosecutor bets to demonstrate plans in a messy civil war"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Over the last month, the International Criminal Court prosecution has laid out its strategy against two leaders of the Anti-balaka, a Central African Republic group of civil defence militias. The backbone of the accusation is that the two men, one on the ground and the other in power circles, were involved in two interlinked common plans, a shifting concept in the context of the messy 2013-2014 civil war.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere were people with broken arms, they were covered in blood,\u201d recalled the first witness in the case against militia leaders Alfred Yekatom and Patrice-Edouard Nga\u00efssona, who described a 2013 attack in Bangui, on March 16 at the International Criminal Court (ICC). The woman, whose identity was protected and face pixelated, testified in the local language Sango, translated into French and then into English for the court, about the attack allegedly perpetrated against Muslims by Anti-balaka in which her husband was killed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This case is the second the ICC has tackled in the Central African Republic (CAR). The first concerned events up to 2012 when a Congolese militia entered the country and were accused of raping and murdering civilians. It ended with the acquittal of their commander, Jean-Pierre Bemba<\/a>, a former vice-president of Congo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Thijs Bouwknegt, historian of mass violence at NIOD Institute for Holocaust & Genocide Studies, who is following the trial that opened on 16 February, the prosecutor \u201cwants not to make the same mistakes\u201d and to \u201cavoid some of the grandstanding\u201d that typified the prosecution statements during that first trial. With a US-trained senior trial lawyer in charge of the prosecution case it feels \u201creally hands on\u201d, he says. With at least one similarity with the Bemba case: the prosecutor\u2019s allegations implicate important political and military players in CAR, such as former president Fran\u00e7ois Boziz\u00e9. You end up asking yourself why these big names are \u201cnever tried, not prosecuted,\u201d Bouwknegt says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For this trial, the prosecution is focusing on events around the end of 2013 and beginning of 2014, following a referral by CAR authorities of the grave violations that have inflamed the country during the civil war that was reignited after Boziz\u00e9 was deposed in a coup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Timely arrest of a Seleka member<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The prosecution used the trial\u2019s opening to show an even-handed approach, after a commander of the alliance known as the Seleka \u2013 which overthrew Boziz\u00e9 and was subsequently opposed by the Anti-balaka self-defence groups \u2013 Mahamat Sa\u00efd Abdel Kani<\/a>, was arrested and transferred in January to the ICC. New \u201cinvestigations are underway,\u201d declared senior trial lawyer Kweku Vanderpuye in his opening address, pointing to the Seleka leader arrest as proof that the ICC is tackling \u201call sides of the CAR conflict\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A recent report<\/a> into attitudes to justice in the CAR says that victims of the waves of violence generally \u201cmistrust\u201d all justice institutions. The authors observed that the ICC \u201cis perceived as conducting a witch hunt against the Anti-balaka\u201d and as persecuting those who have \u201claid down their arms and are in a weak position\u201d in a context of ongoing conflict where prominent warlords are in powerful positions. Bouwknegt agrees that \u201cit\u2019s a good thing for prosecution to have other guy in prison. At least for the story it\u2019s good,\u201d although \u201cit was basically popular mass violence with citizens fighting citizens and some commanders and some leaders higher up\u201d. And there are \u201cmany steps to go before the Seleka trial also becomes a reality\u201d in The Hague, he cautions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nga\u00efssona, part of a \u201cstrategic common plan\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Patrice-Edouard
Now in the dock at the ICC, Patrice-Edouard Nga\u00efssona (right) representing the Anti-balaka at the signing of a ceasefire agreement with a Seleka representative, Mohamed Moussa Dhaffane (left), on 23 July 2014 in Brazzaville. \u00a9 MISCA<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Nga\u00efssona faces 16 counts of war crimes and 16 counts of crimes against humanity for allegedly using his position as the country\u2019s minister of Youth, Sports, Art and Culture to recruit child soldiers and incite hatred against Muslims. Yekatom is charged with 10 counts of war crimes and 11 counts of crimes against humanity for organising and overseeing atrocities committed by militia forces. Both men pled not guilty to all charges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the prosecution, Nga\u00efssona was a member of the Boziz\u00e9 \u201cinner circle\u201d, who plotted from abroad and who together implemented a \u2018strategic common plan\u2019 to return to power and remove incumbent Seleka regime. This plan, says international criminal law expert Marjolein Cupido from the Dutch Academy for Legislation, was to \u201cregain political control by using criminal means, by instrumentalising self-defence groups that already exist and that are collectively known as the Anti-balaka\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They \u201csent instructions for weapons purchase and attacks\u201d, said prosecutor Vanderpuye. Nga\u00efssona was influential over youth and became the Anti-balaka national coordinator in January 2014. The youth constitute a large part of the CAR population and he knew they would listen to him, said the prosecution. In April 2014, Nga\u00efssona is alleged to have said, \u201cwhen I give an order to these children, I immediately think that it\u2019s enough\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Anti-balaka leaders encouraged a \u201cfalse narrative\u201d against the Seleka with \u201cinevitable\u201d consequences, added Vanderpuye. He showed the court a video in which Anti-balaka militants said, \u201cwhen you find them in the bush you kill them because that is what they are doing to us\u201d and \u201cit is our country \u2026 it is not the country of the Muslims\u201d. Nga\u00efssona himself signed press releases on behalf of the Anti-balaka movement in which he excused \u201cexcesses\u201d and \u201cisolated incidents\u201d by militia. He even advised Anti-balaka elements to be careful because one day they may be prosecuted by the ICC, heard the court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The prosecution says, \u201che was in charge, he gave them weapons, he was the big boss,\u201d notes Bouwknegt<\/em>. In many accounts though, Bouwknegt points out, these militias were disparate, in \u201cdifferent villages, with different men, different children who wielded machetes and did awful stuff\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yekatom, part of an \u201coperational common plan\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Alfred
Alfred Yekatom (centre) is accused before the International Criminal Court, as an \"operational\" arm of the anti-balaka on the ground, of having taken part in atrocities during the 2013-2014 civil war in Central Africa.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Yekatom is being charged as an Anti-balaka leader on the ground. \u201cHe\u2019s a really hands-on guy,\u2019 says Bouwknegt, \u2018who takes part in atrocities, according to the prosecution\u201d. Cupido explains that the prosecution is also alleging a second, \u201coperational\u201d common plan, \u201cby the Anti-balaka groups to target the Muslim population in the Central African Republic\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yekatom was a \u201ccentral figure in carrying out the common plan\u201d said Vanderpuye. He fled to neighbouring Congo, amassed 3.000 fighters and over three months he \u201corganised them into militia-like hierarchy\u201d. While Nga\u00efssona became the national coordinator and de facto political coordinator, Yekatom trained and structured the \u201celements under his command\u201d who shared same common purpose, says the prosecution. His \u201chatred of Muslims was well known\u201d and he has shown \u201cno hesitation to kill\u201d. Insider prosecution witnesses will tell the court that Yekatom instructed them to kill Muslims, to \u201ctie them up with rope and slit their throats\u201d. \u201cInsiders will say: \u2018I don\u2019t remember anyone disobeying him\u2019,\u201d said Vanderpuye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The prosecution is planning to introduce evidence from 150 witnesses including insiders and 6.000 pieces of evidence, including several videos. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the defence, Nga\u00efssona \u201cwas not a fighter\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Geert-Jan Alexander Knoops, defending Nga\u00efssona, presented his client as a civilian with no \u201creference to a military background\u201d. His life was \u201cdominated by his football career\u201d and his popularity was due to professionalism, he says, recalling that Nga\u00efssona was elected<\/a> to the Confederation of African Football (CAF) executive committee in 2018, which \u201cmade the country proud\u201d. The CAR rose through the FIFA ranks under Nga\u00efssona\u2019s care, going from low ranking 204 out of 207, up to number 50. \u201cThis is the reason why people liked him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was approached in January 2014 because the Anti-balaka needed a spokesperson and \u201cbecause he was not a fighter,\u201d says Knoops. Witnesses will say \u201cthey wanted someone neutral\u201d. A video from august 2014 from Nga\u00efssona\u2019s return from a peace conference to Bangui will show him saying \u201ctoday we need to find peace\u201d. The image presented by the prosecution \u201ccannot be reconciled\u201d with reality, says Knoops. Instead, the defence will attest Nga\u00efssona\u2019s generosity - witnesses will say \u201chis house was like an orphanage\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Myl\u00e8ne Dimitri, who is defending Yekatom, did not yet present her approach to the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to link the \u201cstrategy\u201d and the \u201coperations\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Why have the prosecution joined these two cases? It could make sense, suggests Bouwknegt, to build a case around the facts and then argue the links between events and the accused. Cupido is looking forward to seeing \u201chow they are framing the relationship between the leadership level and the perpetrators\u201d. That can be problematic, she warns. In a blog piece, Cupido has been critical<\/a> of the way the judges at the ICC pre-trial chamber formulated the evidence in the \u201cdocument containing the charges<\/a>\u201d which did not provide a legal framework to define the elements of co-perpetration. \u201cThey just described a situation of a crime scene and then,\u201d she says, \u201cconcluded in one sentence: \u2018OK, so this means that there is a reasonable basis to proceed with this case for co-perpetration\u2019, rather than explaining what threshold was met, what legal elements were to be established. For the defence, that was very problematic, they were completely left in the dark\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trial chamber and the appeals chamber have confirmed the prosecution\u2019s approach, but Cupido says there is still a risk involved \u201cwhen maybe a trial chamber will go back to the Thomas Lubanga case law and to the traditional concept of indirect perpetration based on control and then says, no, but wait, this this doesn't really fit, in our view\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several prosecution witnesses this month have included the UN analyst Lars Bromley, who provided satellite images showing the destruction of buildings, and a former member of the UN panel of experts on CAR, Aurelien Llorca, an expert on armed groups. Yesterday, on March 24, he told the court that he had established that Nga\u00efssona, based in the capital, was \u201cat the top\u201d of the anti-balaka structure, and that the national coordinators in Bangui sent out people to \u201cstructure\u201d the forces in the provinces, providing also money and telephone credits. The witness said he had asked Nga\u00efssona directly about atrocities committed by Anti-balaka forces. The accused answered that the actions were by false Anti-balaka, or by \u201celements out of control\u201d. When Llorca asked whether he had ever tried to stop them, Nga\u00efssona had not \u201cindicated he tried,\u201d Llorca testified, but rather that \u201che said he was not able\".<\/p>\n\n\n

\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t
Recommended reading<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t
\"\"<\/div><\/a>\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\tThe ICC in Central African Republic: phantom state, phantom justice\r\n\t\t<\/a>\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over the last month, the International Criminal Court prosecution has laid out its strategy against two leaders of the Anti-balaka, a Central African Republic group of civil defence militias. The backbone of the accusation is that the two men, one on the ground and the other in power circles, were involved in two interlinked common […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":75277,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[562],"tags":[2653,2683],"ji_location":[2165],"class_list":["post-75300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-icc","tag-crime-against-humanity","tag-war-crime","ji_location-central-african-republic"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCAR-II: ICC prosecutor bets to demonstrate plans in a messy civil war - JusticeInfo.net<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Over the last month, the International Criminal Court prosecution has laid out its strategy against two leaders of the Anti-balaka, a Central African Republic group of civil defence militias. 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