Judges at the International Criminal Court found Mahamat Said Abdel Kani guilty on Wednesday of crimes against humanity for torturing and imprisoning detainees at a notorious detention site in Bangui, Central African Republic — making him the first senior commander of the rebel Séléka movement convicted by the tribunal, Al Jazeera reports.

Trial Chamber VI ruled that Said, who ran the Office Central de Répression du Banditisme prison in the capital between April and August 2013, was guilty beyond reasonable doubt of imprisonment and other severe deprivation of physical liberty, torture, persecution and other inhumane acts. Judges acquitted him of separate war crimes charges, finding prosecutors had not proven an international armed conflict was underway in the country at the time.

A first for the Séléka case

The Séléka rebel coalition, led by Michel Djotodia, ousted President François Bozizé in a March 2013 coup, briefly installing Djotodia as the country's first Muslim head of state before regional and international pressure forced him to resign later that year. Said is the first senior member of that coalition to be convicted at the ICC; he was extradited from the CAR to The Hague in January 2021 after being handed over by the government of President Faustin-Archange Touadéra.

THE FIRST SENIOR SÉLÉKA COMMANDER CONVICTED BY THE COURT

The Séléka takeover triggered the formation of rival "anti-balaka" militias, and the fighting between the two sides killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands of people over the following decade. The court has now convicted commanders from both camps: last year, judges sentenced former anti-balaka leaders Alfred Yekatom and Patrice-Edouard Ngaïssona to 15 and 12 years respectively for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the same conflict.

Human Rights Watch, which has tracked the case since Said's 2021 surrender, said the conviction shows mid-level commanders can be held accountable for atrocities carried out under their command, while cautioning that survivors are still waiting for broader accountability across the country's long civil conflict.

A sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled. Under ICC rules, judges will hear further submissions from prosecutors, the defense and victims' representatives before setting a punishment, which for crimes against humanity can run up to life imprisonment. CP24 notes several other case files tied to the conflict remain open at the court.