A court in the Central African Republic (CAR) on Monday convicted three militia officers of crimes against humanity in a historic decision and sentenced them to prison terms ranging from 20 years to life.
Issa Sallet Adoum, Ousman Yaouba and Tahir Mahamat have been accused of taking part in an attack by armed group 3R in May 2019 that massacred 46 villagers in north-west Central African Republic.
The Special Criminal Court, a tribunal of local and international judges, sentenced Adoum to life imprisonment and the others to 20 years in prison after its very first trial.
The Central African Republic, one of the poorest and most volatile countries in the world, plunged into a civil war in 2013 that was largely sectarian.
Violence decreased in intensity in 2018, but as recently as early 2021 two-thirds of the country was in the hands of armed groups emerging from the conflict.
The Special Court’s mandate has been in place for war crimes and crimes against humanity since 2003.
The court was set up in 2015 with support from the United Nations but struggled for years to get off the ground amid logistical hurdles, lack of funds and local hostilities.
After a rocky start, the first trial opened in April before a panel of national and international judges, with prosecutors from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, France and Togo.
The 3R (Return, Reclamation and Rehabilitation) is one of the most powerful armed groups in the Central African Republic, made up mainly of the Fulani ethnic group, also known as the Peuls.
Prosecutors had requested life sentences for the three in August.
In a statement, the court said the trio were guilty of murder, inhuman acts and degrading and degrading treatment.
Adoum was also convicted of rape by subordinates and war crimes as a “military chief”.
The three were acquitted of war crimes torture.
Mahamat, who has maintained his innocence, went on a hunger strike three weeks earlier. He was taken on a stretcher for sentencing, an AFP journalist saw.
The defendants have three days to appeal.
