The International Criminal Court has convicted former Central African Republic rebel commander Mahamat Said Abdel Kani on four counts of crimes against humanity linked to abuses committed during the country’s 2013 conflict.
The ICC’s Trial Chamber VI delivered its judgment in The Hague on Wednesday, finding Said guilty of crimes including torture and unlawful imprisonment. The 56-year-old former commander was accused of abuses committed in Bangui between April and August 2013, when the Central African Republic was engulfed in armed conflict.
Said was a senior commander of the predominantly Muslim Seleka rebel coalition, which seized control of the Central African Republic in 2013 and overthrew President François Bozizé. The political upheaval was followed by widespread violence and a conflict that increasingly took on religious and communal dimensions.
According to the case against Said, he was involved in the operation of the Central Office for the Repression of Banditry, known as the OCRB, in Bangui. Prosecutors alleged that detainees held at the facility were subjected to severe mistreatment, including torture, cruel treatment and other forms of abuse.
The ICC judges found Said responsible for four crimes against humanity. The convictions relate to imprisonment or other severe deprivation of liberty, torture, persecution and other inhumane acts. The court's findings followed a trial in which prosecutors presented evidence from dozens of witnesses before the defence presented its case.
However, the chamber did not convict Said on every charge brought against him. He was acquitted of three counts of war crimes, meaning the judgment contains both convictions and acquittals rather than finding him guilty of all allegations originally presented at trial.
The case began after the ICC issued a warrant for Said's arrest in January 2019. He was subsequently surrendered to the court in January 2021. His trial opened in September 2022, with the prosecution presenting evidence from 58 witnesses. The defence completed its presentation of evidence in September 2025, followed by closing arguments in November of that year.
The conviction adds to the ICC's continuing work on crimes committed during the Central African Republic's conflicts. In July 2025, the court convicted former Anti-Balaka commanders Alfred Yekatom and Patrice-Edouard Ngaïssona of several war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the country between 2013 and 2014. Their appeals remain pending.
Said's sentence was not announced alongside Wednesday's conviction and will be determined at a later stage. The court will also deal with other issues arising from the judgment in accordance with its procedures.
The conviction represents the conclusion of a lengthy judicial process concerning alleged abuses committed more than a decade ago. It also provides a formal judicial determination on part of the conduct attributed to Said while leaving the charges on which he was acquitted separate from those on which he was found guilty.
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