Alfred Yekatom, also known by his alias Rambo, is a former leader of Central African rebel group

Anti-balaka The Anti-balaka (''anti-machete'') is an alliance of militia groups based in the Central African Republic in the early 21st century said by ''the Guardian'' to be composed primarily of Christians, but also some Muslims. However, some church leade ...

, arrested in 2018 for alleged

war crime A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hostage ...

Life

Yekatom was born in 1975 in Bimbo. He is former corporal chief of

Central African Armed Forces The Central African Armed Forces (; FACA) are the armed forces of the Central African Republic and have been barely functional since the outbreak of the Central African Republic Civil War, civil war in 2012. Today they are among the world's wea ...

and member of parliament. Between 5 December 2013 and August 2014 he led around 3,000 Anti-balaka fighters during

Central African Republic Civil War The Central African Republic Civil War is an ongoing civil war in the Central African Republic (CAR) involving the successive governments, rebels from the former ' coalition, the Anti-balaka militias, and various foreign and international fo ...

. He is allegedly responsible for multiple war crimes including murder, forced displacement, imprisonment, use of child soldiers and more. On 11 November 2018, an arrest warrant was issued against him by the

International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC) is an intergovernmental organization and International court, international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute ...

. He was surrendered to the ICC on 17 November 2018. His trial started on 16 February 2021. The ICC hearings on Yekatom and Patrice Edouard Ngaïssona resumed on 30 August 2021 after being adjourned in June 2021. A sixteenth witness, testifying anonymously, was questioned about the 2013 attacks in the

Bossangoa Bossangoa is the capital of Ouham, one of the 14 Prefectures of the Central African Republic, prefectures of the Central African Republic. The town has a population of 36,478 (2003 census). It is located 303 km (189 mi) north of the cou ...

region.RCA : l'audience de Patrice Édouard Ngaïssona et Alfred Yekatom se poursuit devant la CPI avec l'audition du 16e témoin
30 August 2021

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yekatom, Alfred People indicted by the International Criminal Court People from Bangui 1975 births Living people Leaders of Anti-balaka