The International Criminal Court (ICC) has sentenced on July 24 Patrice-Edouard Ngaïssona, former head of the Central African Republic’s (CAR) football Federation and a former Executive Committee member of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), to 12 years in prison for committing 28 war crimes and crimes against humanity.
He was convicted alongside Alfred Yekatom, also known as “Rambo,” who received a 15-year sentence after being found guilty of 20 charges. The pair were accused of orchestrating violent attacks against CAR’s Muslim population between 2013 and 2014, in retaliation for the Séléka group’s seizure of power in the predominantly Christian nation.
The ICC trial, which lasted nearly four years, drew on testimony from more than 170 witnesses and almost 20,000 pieces of evidence. Judges found the two men responsible for widespread atrocities including murder, torture, and religious persecution. While Ngaïssona was acquitted of rape and Yekatom cleared of recruiting child soldiers, the court was convinced of their overarching roles in fuelling sectarian violence. The prosecution argued that Ngaïssona financed and directed the anti-Balaka militias, while Yekatom led brutal assaults in Bangui, including gruesome acts of violence such as throat-slitting and burying civilians alive.
Ngaïssona, once CAR’s sports minister and head of its football body, was arrested in France in 2018 and handed over to the ICC the following year. His 2018 appointment to CAF’s executive committee was widely condemned by rights organisations, especially given his self-declared leadership of the anti-Balaka forces and his barring from contesting the 2015 CAR presidential race. At the time of his CAF appointment, Ngaïssona denied any wrongdoing, claiming he had always acted in the interest of his country and distanced himself from political violence.
Yekatom, who was elected to parliament in 2016 despite being under UN sanctions, was arrested in 2018 after firing a weapon in parliament. His extradition to The Hague marked a turning point in CAR’s approach to justice and accountability. As the country continues to navigate its fragile peace, observers view the convictions as a significant step toward ending impunity for war crimes, especially in a nation long scarred by religious and political conflict.