Prosecutors investigating war crimes will try from Tuesday August 22 to convince the judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to bring to justice a former Central African militia leader whom they accuse of attacks against Muslim civilians.
Maxime Mokom, 44, was the leader of the anti-balaka, self-defense militias made up mainly of Christian and animist fighters created in 2013 in response to the capture of Bangui by the Seleka, a coalition of armed groups mainly made up of opposing Muslims to former President François Bozizé. He faces 20 counts of “war crimes” and of “crimes against humanity” for atrocities committed in 2013 and 2014, including attacks on civilians, murders, rapes, looting and attacks on mosques.
Prosecutors will now seek, in a key three-day hearing at the ICC, which sits in The Hague, to convince judges that the evidence is strong enough to send Mr Mokom to the dock and stand trial.
Prosecutors said Mr. Mokom, the national anti-balaka coordinator they claim, brought “logistical support for military operations (…), in particular by providing funds, weapons, medicines and ammunition” and in late 2013 led the planning and coordination of attacks against the capital Bangui and the city of Bossangoa (north-west).
“Leave or die”
The attacks forced thousands of Muslim civilians to flee the capital and cross the border into neighboring Cameroon and Chad. “Many walked for weeks (…) while being chasedprosecutors said. Others were moved to enclaves, where they were then confined. » The attacks “widespread and systematic” against Muslim civilians anti-balaka militias continued even after Seleka forces withdrew from Bangui until at least December 2014, they claimed: “The message to the Muslim population was clear: leave the CAR or die! »
The violence in the Central African Republic committed by the Séléka and the anti-balaka – which means “anti-machete” – would have left thousands dead and more than a hundred thousand displaced, according to the ICC.
Chadian authorities handed over Mr. Mokom in 2022 to the ICC, which had issued an arrest warrant for him four years earlier. In the same year, Seleka commander Mahamat Said Abdel Kani denied accusations of “war crimes” and of “crimes against humanity” before the court created in 2002 to judge the worst crimes in the world. Finally, the trial of two former anti-balaka warlords, Patrice-Edouard Ngaïssona and Alfred Yekatom, which began on February 16, 2021, is due to continue on Tuesday at a new hearing.