Reports reaching the airwaves indicate that two alleged leaders of a brutal militia group in the Central African Republic have been arrested. But despite this, the nation is still facing so much chaos and needs the help of peacekeeping troops to maintain law and order as much as possible.
What they Are Charged for in the ICC
The former head of the Central African Republic football federation as well as another notable figure in the nation is facing charges in the ICC for crimes against humanity.
The ex-president of the CAR football federation – Patrice Edouard Ngaissona; is alleged to have carried out various murders, recruitment of minors for war purposes, and torture on various victims. These are the same charges fellow citizen Alfred Yekatom faces in the ICC.
The two figures have refused to take a plea bargain by the prosecutors and stress the fact that they are innocent of all charges filed against them.
The prosecuting team stated that although they remain no more than suspects until proven guilty by the ICC, the facts on the table are alarming and enough to nail these victims for the various crimes they have committed against humanity.
How It All Started
The Central African Country is predominantly a nation with lots of Christians. However, an Islamic militia group did change the course of the nation’s history when they seized power sometime in 2013.
This action prompted the militia called Anti-Balaka (a Christian Militia) to combat and cause untold havoc to many members of the Islamic militia – Seleka; and the nation at large. As things are, many people are still fleeing the nation and becoming refugees in nations like Cameroon, Chan, and Congo.
These two figures that have a hearing in the ICC are reported to have involved themselves with the Anti-Balaka and perpetuated various forms of crimes against humanity in the process.
The accusations are not new given that Patrice Edouard Ngaissona’s appointment as a stakeholder in CAF (Confederation of African Football) was heavily criticized by human rights activists because of his alleged involvement with this militia group.