Earlier this week the Special Criminal Court in the Central African Republic (CAR) announced that Maturin Kombo, who was in the court’s custody charged with crimes committed in 2014, died in hospital in Bangui.
Twelve years ago, as CAR was in the throes of a civil war, I arrived in the village of Guen, in the southwest of the country, to conduct research. While there, we confirmed that in early Fe...
The strongest version of this narrative centers on the pursuit of justice in the Central African Republic, where systemic impunity has long shielded perpetrators of atrocities. The Special Criminal Court (SCC) represents a rare institutional effort to break this cycle, and the ongoing trial of anti-balaka leaders—despite Kombo's death—signals progress. The article rightly highlights the emotional weight of survivors' testimonies, such as the father of Oumarou Bouba, which humanizes the cost of v...