He's widely called Rambo, Member of Parliament Alfred Yekatham, resisting arrest, firing his
weapon inside the Central African Republic's Parliament in 2018. Now the former MP stands before judges at the International Criminal Court
Beside him, ex-Sports and Culture Minister Patrice Edouard and Gaysona, both are former
commanders of the Christian anti-Balaka militia. They're accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity during the 2013 Civil War
That's when politicians used Seleka and anti-Balaka militias to ignite sectarian violence and tear apart Muslim and Christian communities
Al Jazeera met Yakatom and his anti-Balaka fighters at a checkpoint outside the capital, Bengi, in 2014
We've no problems with Muslims. They are our brothers. We've lived with them for a long time
And yet, prosecutors from the ICC say his actions suggest otherwise. Under his order, mosques are targeted
Like the Ali Babalo mosque, later inside, the dead lay as in prayer
Children beside elders, hand in hand, some mutilated. Crowds cheered outside. Witnesses say child soldiers under their command dragged Muslim families from their homes and executed them their bodies left to rot in the sun For Christian anti commanders being Muslim was enough to be marked for slaughter
Both men denied the charges. In Bangui, the trial has reopened old wounds
with many people asking why more Muslim Sileka commanders aren't also facing justice
While Yekhetom and Ungai Sona face justice, Salika commanders are joining the government
The very men who helped start this war are now taking power. That's the double standard we live with
In April 2025, the government signed a peace deal with rebel groups
They agreed to disarm and dissolve, while victims still wait for justice
And so, for many people, this verdict is more than a judgment on two men
it's a reckoning, a moment where the blood-soaked years of war are laid bare in the cold light of
international justice, with the ICC turning its full gaze on a conflict where religion became
a weapon and neighbors became killers. Prosecutors say Yekatom and Ngaissona didn't just pull
triggers, they helped build a system where faith marked people for death and silence
was the law. Nicholas Hawk, Al Jazeera