The arrest warrants issued by the Special Criminal Court have remained largely unsuccessful.
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In a report published on December 8, 2021, the organization Amnesty International denounces the impunity that reigns in the Central African Republic. The establishment of a special criminal court does not seem to be a game-changer.
It took a long time, even a long time, before finding an independent and competent body to try in Bangui crimes under international law and serious human rights violations perpetrated in the Central African Republic since 2003. More than three years after its establishment in 2018 , the Special Criminal Court (CPS) issued twenty-five arrest warrants, but not a single suspect is currently in pre-trial detention.
“The Special Criminal Court is struggling to bring to justice those suspected of being criminally responsible for crimes under international law, not least because the arrest warrants it has issued are not being executed.”
Samira Daoud, Amnesty International Regional Director for West and Central Africa.
Last November, a minister was arrested in his office following an arrest warrant from the CPS. The former rebel leader, Hassan Bouba Ali, is particularly suspected of having ordered the attack on the Alindao displaced persons camp in 2018, which left dozens of civilian victims, including several children. Deemed to be very influential and close to Russian circles, as explained by RFI, the suspect was finally released. A release that aroused indignation in the country.
Supported by the UN, the Special Criminal Court (CPS) is a mixed tribunal made up of Central African and international judges charged with carrying out genuine investigations in order to identify and try those responsible for serious crimes, such as war crimes and crimes. against humanity. It is supposed to act as a complement to the International Criminal Court and ordinary criminal courts. Its objective is to fight against impunity, a scourge in this country for years. But still today, “the vast majority of victims still await justice, truth and reparations“, underlines Amnesty International.
The NGO thus calls on the Central African authorities and the UN to act so that justice is done.