Lenah
Follow us
Justice Hub
  • My Justice
  • News
  • Insights
  • Justice Explained
  • About Us
No Result
View All Result
Justice Hub
  • My Justice
  • News
  • Insights
  • Justice Explained
  • About Us
No Result
View All Result
Justice Hub
No Result
View All Result

CAR: bring the untouchables to justice

April 29, 2015
in News
0
0
Home News
FacebookTwitterLinkedInWhatsappEmail

By Sophie van Leeuwen

A prosecutor in the Central African Republic is risking his life. Warlords had been controlling the streets, and some of them are still refusing to surrender to justice. A new Special Criminal Court may help end impunity in the CAR.

“I was working in my office when they came,” remembers prosecutor Ghislain Gresenguet. “Armed men entered the building. They were violent. They took the chief registrar with them and pushed him into their car. Thank God they did not shoot. The armed men did not see me in the office.”

Untouchables

Chasing warlords in the CAR is a very difficult job. As a prosecutor at the High Court of Justice in the capital of Bangui, it’s almost impossible to get justice. Also, Gresenguet is traumatised. 

“How can you arrest and judge war criminals who control the streets with their armed groups?” he sighs. One of his colleagues got killed. “Is it worth staying in this country? With all those risks? I have asked myself that question many times.”

“The perpetrators are very often the same. We know them all,” says Africa director Florent Geel of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH). “The actors of crime are dangerous because they are untouchable. They have a lot of power. Justice often lets them go. For so many years, impunity has been institutionalised. People don’t trust justice.”

Special Court

That’s why the CAR is getting its own – hybrid – Special Criminal Court (SCC). Last week, on April 22, a majority of the transitional parliament voted to create the court. It will consist of local and international personnel, like for example 14 local judges, 13 international judges.

“We need jurisprudence”, says prosecutor Gresenguet. “We need justice for the victims who have lost their families and their houses.” Three civil wars have ravished the country and destroyed the lives of many. “They are left with nothing.”

Since 2013, rebels of the Seleka coalition, largely from northern CAR, started killing civilians. Anti-Balaka fought back and targeted those who might support the Seleka, mostly Moslems. Thousands of people have been killed, and hundreds of thousands have had to flee. 

The new court will get financial and logistical support from the UN mission MINUSCA, which started in 2014. It will cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague and investigate and prosecute those responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the CAR since 2003.

Risk of violence

This is the first – partly – international court in an ongoing conflict, says Geel. “Of course there’s a risk of violence and countermeasures. The more suspects are arrested, the more dangerous it will get. But it’s an opportunity. By taking a violent actor out of the game, you bring down the levels of violence.”

Gresenguet has faith in the UN mission. “I now have a MINUSCA guard. Also the law court is secured. But we’ll have to take control over the whole country, not only in the capital of Bangui.”

Lead image: UN peacekeepers patrolling the streets of the CAR capital, Bangui (Photo: Pacome Pabandji/AFP)

 

Tags: Central African Republic (CAR)ICC (International Criminal Court)Justice News
ShareTweetShareSendSend

Justice Hub

Justice Hub is an online platform connecting conversations about international justice.

Related Posts

ICL Media Review: Russian veterans seek ICC investigation into use of mercenaries in Syria
ICL Media Review

ICL Media Review: Russian veterans seek ICC investigation into use of mercenaries in Syria

by ICL Media Review
November 18, 2019
0
26

In this week's review, news about the ECCC conviction of Chea and Samphan for genocide, the adjournment of Kwoyelo’s trial...

Read more
NPWJ: Trump’s Transgender Military Ban Gets a Boost

NPWJ: Trump’s Transgender Military Ban Gets a Boost

January 24, 2019
42
ICL Media Review: Charles Taylor’s ex-wife pleads not guilty in UK trial on torture in Liberia

ICL Media Review: Charles Taylor’s ex-wife pleads not guilty in UK trial on torture in Liberia

January 24, 2019
38
ICL Media Review: Uganda ordered to compensate former LRA fighter Thomas Kwoyelo

ICL Media Review: Uganda ordered to compensate former LRA fighter Thomas Kwoyelo

January 24, 2019
29
NPWJ: European Parliament to hold hearing on the current human rights and humanitarian situation in Yemen

NPWJ: European Parliament to hold hearing on the current human rights and humanitarian situation in Yemen

January 22, 2019
45

Justice Hub

Justice Hub is an online platform connecting conversations about international justice.

Justice Hub

Justice Hub is an online platform aimed at a worldwide audience of 18-35 year olds, especially in countries where people are looking for sustainable and innovative solutions to problems of justice, peace and security. Justice can feel too abstract, too often owned by experts. We make the conversations lively and accessible.

Follow Us

Quick Links

  • Featured
  • My Justice
  • News
  • Insights
  • Justice Explained
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy

 

  HPPJ Forum Login
Creative Commons Licence
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
No Result
View All Result
  • My Justice
  • News
  • Insights
  • Justice Explained
  • About Us

© 2018 Justice Hub

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Fill the forms bellow to register

*By registering into our website, you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.
All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Login

Lost password?
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.

REPUBLISHING TERMS

You may republish this article online or in print under our Creative Commons license. You may not edit or shorten the text, you must attribute the article to Aeon and you must include the author’s name in your republication.

If you have any questions, please email nsharafa@gmail.com

License

Creative Commons License AttributionCreative Commons Attribution
CAR: bring the untouchables to justice