The Court excludes on the basis of Article 1 F a) of the Geneva Convention a senior army officer who was personally guilty of war crimes during the conflicts that ravaged the Congo between 1992 and 1997.

The case concerned a high-ranking soldier, close collaborator of former President Pascal Lissouba. His request for international protection was rejected on 6 April 2021 by the Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (OFPRA). He challenged the decision.

On appeal, the CNDA verified that the qualification of war crimes, within the meaning of Article 1 F (a) of the Geneva Convention, was applicable for the abuses committed against civilians by pro-government militias placed under his command, between June and October 1997. The court considered that the acts were committed within the context of an internal armed conflict, against the civilian population. It analysed the personal responsibility of the applicant who, in his capacity as hierarchical superior, had to cover with his authority the acts committed by the militias placed under his command in a context of an ethnic guerrilla warfare.

The court also ruled out the exemption of the responsibility based on the fact that he was acting in favor of a democratically elected government threatened by insurgents who had also been guilty of war crimes.