Bangui's most feared jail finally catches up with its former boss.

Cbinews.tv reports that Mahamat Said Abdel Kani aged 56 ran the OCRB detention centre in Bangui as CAR spiralled into civil war in 2013.

Judges at The Hague said he oversaw beatings and cruel treatment of prisoners. In a blue sweatshirt and jeans he shook his head as presiding judge Miatta Maria Samba read the verdict.

Four counts of crimes against humanity including torture and unlawful imprisonment proved. Three war crimes counts not proved. Sentence to come later.

Survivors waited more than ten years. Prosecutors said inmates were chained, beaten and denied food in filthy cells. For victims in Bangui this is personal.

CAR has faced turmoil since independence in 1960. In 2013 Seleka rebels seized Bangui and ousted President Francois Bozize, triggering revenge attacks by anti Balaka militias.

UN figures show over a million displaced and thousands killed. CAR remains one of the world’s poorest nations with almost half the population needing aid. OCRB became notorious in that chaos.

The ICC tries genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Said was convicted for systematic abuse of civilians inside a state centre. What next. Sentencing later with a right to appeal.

Two other CAR cases linked to Seleka and anti Balaka leaders are still before the court. With almost no domestic justice for wartime abuses, this verdict is a rare step toward accountability.

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