By Ebi Kesiena
A recent report by Justice Info has identified four former African leaders among the world’s ten most wanted individuals accused of crimes against humanity.
These leaders, linked to atrocities committed during their time in power, come from The Gambia, Sudan, the Central African Republic, and Ethiopia.
The report, published on Monday, describes this group as “a very exclusive club” of current and former world leaders facing serious charges. Among them is Yahya Jammeh, the former Gambian ruler who was ousted in 2016 and now lives in exile in Equatorial Guinea. He is accused of widespread human rights violations during his 22-year reign. Omar al-Bashir of Sudan, jailed since his removal from power in 2019, faces multiple international arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
François Bozizé of the Central African Republic is wanted by the Special Criminal Court in Bangui for atrocities committed between 2009 and 2013 and is currently in exile in Guinea-Bissau. Mengistu Hailemariam, the former Ethiopian leader convicted in absentia of genocide and crimes against humanity, has been living in Zimbabwe since losing power in the early 1990s.
The list also includes non-African leaders such as Russian President Vladimir Putin, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, exiled Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Taliban leader Haibatullah Akhundzada, and Myanmar’s military rulers.
Efforts to bring Yahya Jammeh to justice are underway, with West African regional leaders working to establish a hybrid special tribunal to prosecute him for human rights abuses committed during his rule from 1994 to 2017.
The allegations against him include extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances, torture, and rape. Reports indicate that at least 240 people, many of them political opponents, were executed under his regime. He is also accused of administering a fraudulent AIDS treatment to unsuspecting patients. Despite these serious accusations, no arrest warrant has been issued for him.
Meanwhile, Omar al-Bashir remains imprisoned and faces international arrest warrants issued by the ICC on 4 March 2009 and 12 July 2010. He has been charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, extermination, forcible transfer, torture, and rape, as well as genocide. These crimes are believed to have taken place in Darfur, particularly following an attack on El Fashir airport in 2003 and continuing until mid-2008.
François Bozizé is also facing prosecution, with an international arrest warrant issued against him on 27 February 2024. His case, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Special Criminal Court in the Central African Republic, involves charges of crimes against humanity, including murder, enforced disappearances, torture, and rape, particularly in Bossembélé’s civilian prison and military camp.
Mengistu Hailemariam, convicted in absentia by Ethiopia’s Federal High Court on 28 December 2006, was sentenced to life imprisonment for genocide and crimes against humanity. He was found responsible for ordering mass executions and torture during the “Red Terror” purge between 1977 and 1978, a period in which over 2,000 people, including Ethiopian royalty, were killed, and more than 2,400 others were tortured.
