Ex-CAR Rebel Commander Found Guilty by ICC on Humanity Crime Counts

The International Criminal Court (ICC) delivered a verdict on Wednesday, finding a former rebel commander from the Central African Republic (CAR), Mahamat Said Abdel Kani, 56, culpable on four charges related to crimes against humanity. These charges specifically included torture and illegal imprisonment. The Hague-based court concluded that Said, while serving as the head of a feared prison unit, oversaw various acts of beatings and severe mistreatment during the peak of the CAR's descent into civil conflict in 2013.

In the courtroom, Said, dressed in a blue sweatshirt and jeans, was observed shaking his head repeatedly as the presiding judge, Miatta Maria Samba, meticulously outlined the details of the atrocities he was found to have committed. The ICC is expected to announce the specific sentencing for these convictions at a later date. It was also noted that Said received an acquittal on three separate counts of war crimes.

Prosecutors had alleged that the Central Office for the Repression of Banditry (OCRB) detention centre in Bangui, the capital city, which Said managed, was a site where prisoners endured horrific acts of torture and extreme deprivation.