Hassan Ali Bouba, the Minister of Livestock and Animal Health, was arrested on Friday, November 19, in his office by a police unit composed of Central African gendarmes and MINUSCA forces. According to consistent sources, this representative of the UPC (Union for Peace in the Central African Republic) under Ali Darassa within the government was detained under a warrant from the Special Criminal Court (CPS). The charges against him have not yet been disclosed.
His arrest is part of an investigation by the CPS, a hybrid court established in 2015 to try those responsible for serious war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Central African Republic. Hassan Bouba, once the right-hand man of Ali Darassa, was the former political coordinator of the UPC, an armed group known for its numerous attacks on civilians, national forces, and MINUSCA in the Ouaka and Basse-Kotto regions.
Under Scrutiny by Human Rights Organizations
Hassan Ali Bouba was appointed to the government through the Khartoum Agreement of February 6, 2019, an accord signed between the government and 14 armed groups aimed at bringing peace to the Central African Republic. His appointment was met with disapproval from several national and international human rights organizations. They accuse him of ordering the massacre at the displaced persons’ camp at the Bishopric of Alindao in 2018, an attack that resulted in the deaths of over 100 civilians, including two priests, and left many others injured.
In January 2021, the UPC announced his dismissal, accusing him of forging the signature of his leader, Ali Darassa, to publish a false communiqué on behalf of the armed movement.
In August, The Sentry, an American NGO, implicated him in an investigation concerning the Central African Sugar Company (SUCAF), a subsidiary of the Castel Group in the Central African Republic. According to the report, Hassan Bouba and Ali Darassa received tens of thousands of euros from SUCAF between 2014-2020 for the protection of this company in Ngakobo.
An Arrest Welcomed by Human Rights Defenders
Human rights organizations view the arrest of the former UPC coordinator as a significant step in the fight against impunity in the Central African Republic.
“His arrest is a strong signal in the fight against impunity in the Central African Republic,” said Magistrate Joseph Bindoumi, President of the Central African League for Human Rights (LCDH).
The Central African Observatory for Transitional Justice also called on the CPS to “work towards uncovering the truth and justice for the alleged crimes attributed to him.”
“For the past three months, I have been campaigning for his arrest. I have called on the President of the Republic, the government, and even the CPS to arrest this criminal. He has blood on his hands after committing numerous atrocities, particularly in Alindao,” said Christian Aimé Ndotah, a journalist and human rights activist.
The Special Criminal Court has not yet officially commented on this arrest. Hassan Bouba is the fifth warlord to be arrested for crimes committed on Central African soil since 2013. Others include Alfred Yékatome Rombhot, Patrice Edouard Ngaissona, and Mahamat Saïd Abdel Kani, all of whom are with the International Criminal Court, while Captain Eugène Barret Ngaikoesset and Hassan Ali Bouba are in the custody of the CPS.
AFC News Editorial Team
This project is supported by #FreePressUnlimited and the #EuropeanUnion as part of #covid19responseinafrica. Contact our editorial team at 00236 74 02 15 70 / 75 81 61 38 / 75 38 11 73 or email us at [email protected].
