BANGUI, Central African Republic, May 1, (AP): An internationally backed court in the Central African Republic issued an international arrest warrant Tuesday for the country’s exiled former President François Bozizé for human rights abuses from 2009 to 2013, a spokesperson said.
The Special Criminal Court was set up in the capital, Bangui, to try war crimes and other human rights abuses committed during the coups and violence that the country has experienced since 2003.
Court spokesperson Gervais Bodagy Laoulé said the warrant was for crimes committed under Bozizé's leadership in a civilian prison and at a military training center in the city of Bossembélém where many people were tortured and killed.
The warrant covers crimes from 2009 to 2013 by the presidential guard and other security forces, Laoulé said.
Bozizé current lives in exile in Guinea Bissau, where that country's President Umaro Sissoco Embaló told the Associated Press that he had not received any request from Bangui about the arrest warrant, and that the country’s laws do not allow for extradition.
Ibrahim Nour, whose father was tortured and killed in the infamous Bossembélé prison, welcomed the arrest warrant.
"Justice may be slow, but it will eventually catch up with the executioners. That’s why I welcome the arrest warrant for the men who killed my father, and for whom we are waiting for explanations so that we can begin to mourn,” Nour said.
The court was created in 2015, but took several years to begin operating. Human Rights Watch has described its creation as a landmark to advance justice for victims of serious crimes.