C.Africa war crimes court postpones maiden hearing

A long-awaited court set up to prosecute suspected war criminals in the Central African Republic postponed the start of its first trial on Tuesday as defence attorneys failed to show up, an AFP reporter saw.

The Special Criminal Court, a hybrid body of local and foreign magistrates set up in 2015 with UN backing, has been struggling for years to get going in the face of logistical hurdles, lack of money and hostility.

Its task is to try individuals suspected of war crimes and crimes against humanity since 2003, the start of a period of turmoil that persists to this day.

But its maiden session in the capital Bangui on Tuesday was postponed until next Monday in "the absence" of defence lawyers, presiding judge Aime-Pascal Delimo announced.

"We are suspending proceedings until April 25," he said.

The opening trial concerns three members of a powerful armed group called 3R -- Issa Sallet Adoum, Ousman Yaouba and Tahir Mahamat -- who are accused of the massacre of 46 villagers in northwestern CAR in May 2019.

Justice Minister Arnaud Djoubaye Abazene had proclaimed the trial as proof that the court "has finally entered its operational phase, signalling the end of impunity."

But Enrica Picco of the Internationational Crisis Group (ICC) think tank said the delay "demonstrates that the (court's) operational challenges are tough, despite the support from international donors."

Central African Republic. By (AFP)

Euphrasie Nanette Yanduka, who heads a victims' association, said, "Unfortunately, the lawyers for the butchers did not come... we are leaving (the courtroom) on the opening day today with tears in our eyes."

One of the poorest and most volatile countries in the world, the CAR plunged into civil war in 2013 largely along sectarian lines.

Violence fell back in intensity in 2018 but as recently as early 2021, two-thirds of the country lay in the hands of armed groups spawned in the conflict.

President Faustin Archange Touadera is accused by France and its allies of turning to Moscow and the Russian private security company Wagner to shore up his position in exchange for a share of the CAR's mineral wealth.