Two former militia leaders from the Central African Republic (CAR) will now serve lengthy prison sentences for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
On Thursday, judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) convicted Alfred Yekatom and Patrice-Edouard Ngaissona for leading violent campaigns against civilians between 2013 and 2014.
Yekatom, a feared militia chief known as “Rambo”, was handed a 15-year jail term. Ngaissona, a former football boss and political figure, got 12 years.
“Yekatom’s fighters tortured a man by cutting off his fingers, toes, and an ear. His body was never recovered,” said Presiding Judge Bertram Schmitt.
“Others were executed and mutilated. Their only crime — being Muslims in the wrong place.”
Anti-Balaka Leaders Found Guilty of Atrocities
Both men were top commanders in the Christian-dominated anti-Balaka militia. Their group sprang up in 2013 after Muslim Seleka rebels seized power in CAR, unleashing brutal sectarian violence.
The court found the two men responsible for attacks on Muslim civilians, including murders, torture, persecution, and forced displacement.
Despite pleading not guilty, the court ruled that the violence they directed left deep scars in local communities. Children were orphaned. Villages burnt. Mosques reduced to rubble.
Yekatom, who once commanded 3,000 fighters, was held responsible for a wide range of abuses. However, the court acquitted him of conscripting child soldiers.
Ngaissona, who served as head of CAR’s football association and a member of CAF’s board, was also acquitted of rape charges. But the court ruled he played a “long-term leadership role” in the anti-Balaka movement, fuelling its operations.
Violence in Central African Republic Still Lingers
Yekatom was extradited to The Hague in 2018 after recklessly firing a gun inside CAR’s national parliament. Ngaissona was arrested the same year in France and later transferred to the ICC.
The international investigation into CAR’s civil conflict began in May 2014. A separate case involving a Seleka rebel commander is still ongoing.
Though the worst of the fighting has died down, the Central African Republic remains fragile. Armed groups still roam the countryside, clashing with government forces supported by Rwandan troops and Russian mercenaries, including Wagner-linked fighters.
Since independence in 1960, CAR has known more conflict than peace — ruled by strongmen, rocked by coups, and soaked in blood.
The ICC, based in The Hague, was established in 2002. It is the only permanent court that tries individuals for crimes like genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. Learn more about its work here.
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