The authorities in Chad on Monday surrendered former Central African Republic (CAR) militia leader to the International Criminal Court (ICC) on account of an ICC warrant of arrest issued on 10 December 2018.
Maxime Jeoffroy Eli Mokom was the leader of an anti-Balaka militia and is suspected of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in 2013 and 2014 in in Bangui and other locations in C.A.R.
Violence in C.A.R. started in March 2013 after Muslim rebels, known as Seleka, seized power. Their rule made the Christian rebels to form the opposing anti-Balaka militias.
Anti-Balaka is a movement supportive of former president François Bozizé and opposed to Seleka; a coalition of armed groups predominantly composed of Muslims opposed to Bozizé.
In the capacity of being the National Coordinator of Operations of the Anti-Balaka, ICC said Mokom is suspected of being responsible for the following crimes:
• crimes against humanity consisting in (attempted) murder, extermination, deportation or forcible transfer of population, imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty, torture, persecution, enforced disappearance and other inhumane acts; and
• war crimes consisting in (attempted) murder, torture, cruel treatment, mutilation, intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population, intentionally directing an attack against personnel, installations, material, units or vehicles involved in a humanitarian assistance, intentionally directing an attack against buildings dedicated to religion, pillaging, enlistment of children under the age of 15 years and their use to participate actively in hostilities, displacement of the civilian population and destroying or seizing the property of an adversary.
Chadian soldiers acted as peacekeepers in C.A.R. after the 2013 violence but withdrew after they were accused of siding with the Muslim rebels.
Thousands were killed and at least one million people displaced in CAR since 2013, according to the United Nations.
