Trial Chamber V of the International Criminal Court ("ICC" or "the Court") will hold a public hearing on reparations in the case The Prosecutor v. Alfred Yekatom and Patrice-Edouard Ngaïssona on 1 October 2026, beginning at 09:30 (The Hague local time).
The Chamber will hear submissions from the Common Legal Representatives of Victims, both Defence teams, the Prosecution, the Registry, the Trust Fund for Victims, the organisation ARC-EN-CIEL as Amicus Curiae, and the authorities of the Central African Republic.
No reparations order is expected to be issued at the hearing. Rather, the hearing is intended to allow the Chamber to hear submissions on reparations-related issues before it renders the reparations order in due course.
At the ICC, victims can seek reparation for the harm they have suffered. At the end of a trial, if there is a conviction, the Trial Chamber may order a convicted person to pay reparations to the victims of the crimes of which they were found guilty. The Court may order such reparations to be paid through the Trust Fund for Victims. The Court may award reparations on an individual and/or collective basis, whichever is, in its view, the most appropriate for the victims in the particular case.
Background: On 24 July 2025, Trial Chamber V found Alfred Rombhot Yekatom and Patrice-Edouard Ngaïssona guilty of a number of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Bangui and the west of the Central African Republic between September 2013 and at least February 2014. On the same date, Trial Chamber V sentenced Alfred Rombhot Yekatom to 15 years of imprisonment and Patrice-Edouard Ngaïssona to 12 years of imprisonment. On 26 September 2025, the Defence teams, as well as the Office of the Prosecutor, filed their notices of appeals against the judgment in the case. The Appeals Chamber will rule on these appeals in due course. The accused remain in custody at the ICC detention centre during the appeal proceedings. Following the Chamber's Order for Submissions on Reparations of 8 October 2025, between 13 and 15 April 2026, the parties and participants submitted their observations on reparations. On 12 June 2026, the parties filed their responses.
Order for Submissions on Reparations
Order on the conduct of the hearing on reparations
Webstreaming of the hearing: Webstreaming of the hearing: The hearing can be followed with a 30-minute delay in English, French and Sango on the ICC website, in Sango on the ICC Facebook account, and in French and Sango on the ICC YouTube Channel.
Attending the hearing:
- Members of the diplomatic corps and civil society and other members of the public can request attendance via email to: before 29 September 2026. Attendees must present a valid passport or valid ID with a photo at the main entrance of the Court (at: Oude Waalsdorperweg 10, 2597 AK The Hague).
- Journalists wishing to cover the hearing can request accreditation via email to: before 29 September 2026. All journalists must present a valid press card, and a valid passport or valid ID with a photo, at the main entrance of the Court (at: Oude Waalsdorperweg 10, 2597 AK The Hague).
AV materials: Images of the hearing will be available for download on an FTP server in video (MPEG-4) and audio (MPEG-3) format, and for viewing on the official ICC YouTube Channel.
Photographs of the hearing will be available on the ICC Flickr account.
