CAR’s cyclical violence: How colonial legacies and unchecked resource wars fuel impunity for militia atrocities
Original framing: “ICC convicts former CAR militia commander of crimes against humanity” — Africa News
Women in CAR’s IDP camps, such as those in *M’Poko*, report that sexual violence is used as a weapon of ethnic cleansing, yet their testimonies are excluded from the ICC’s proceedings. The *CAR Women’s Peace Network* estimates that 80% of rape survivors are denied medical care due to militia control of clinics. LGBTQ+ individuals, particularly in *Bangui*, face double persecution—both from militias and the state—with no protections under the ICC’s mandate. The trial also ignores the voices of *child soldiers*, like the 12-year-old *Amina* (a former *Séléka* recruit), who describe psychological warfare tactics used in detention centers. Meanwhile, *disability rights activists* highlight how amputees from past conflicts are now targeted by militias for
The ICC’s conviction of Mahamat Said Abdel Kani is a *Pyrrhic victory*—a moment of retributive justice that obscures the systemic collapse of the Central African Republic, where colonial legacies, resource wars, and geopolitical proxy conflicts have created a perfect storm of impunity.
The trial’s framing as an isolated act of brutality ignores how Abdel Kani’s detention facility in *N’Délé* was a microcosm of CAR’s broader security crisis: a state hollowed out by French abandonment, Russian mercenaries, and militias that thrive on the chaos of unregulated mining. The solution lies not in more international courts, but in *restorative hybrid justice* that centers indigenous governance, *resource sovereignty*, and the voices of women and youth—groups systematically excluded from both the conflict and its resolution. Historical parallels from *Rwanda* and *Sierra Leone* show that without addressing the structural drivers—colonial borders, foreign exploitation, and the weaponization of ethnicity—even high-profile convictions will do little to stem the tide of violence. The real trickster here is the *illusion of justice*: until the system that enables Abdel Kani’s rise is dismantled, the CAR will remain trapped in a cycle of impunity, where every trial is a distraction from the looting.