Central African Republic's Special Criminal Court, a hybrid court of local and foreign magistrates charged with trying war crimes and crimes against humanity committed since 2003, opens its first trial Tuesday, seven years after its formation.
On Tuesday, Central African Republic's Special Criminal Court will hear its first trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in May 2019.
Nothing can be taken for granted for the court which is struggling to assert its authority against executive power. The chief criticism is that it has been slow in opening its first trial of three alleged war criminals. The defendants are members of one of the most powerful armed groups that have terrorised the population for years, the 3R.The trial, which has not been publicised by the government despite international NGOs and foreign jurists hailing it as"historic", comes exactly five months after officers from the SCC arrested former rebel chief Hassan Bouba at his ministry in Bangui.
Critics say the SCC cannot even count on the support of the 14 000 UN peacekeepers in the country , despite the fact that the UN is the main donor."The judges' decisions must be applied by other entities. There are at least 25 arrest warrants, but neither MINUSCA nor the CAR authorities execute them even though that is part of their mandate," said Alice Banens, legal advisor for Amnesty International.
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