Central African Republic Cold Shouldered by Int’l Community Amidst Worsening Humanitarian Crisis
By Katherine Dabo; Twitter: @warriorsolider
U.S. drones were recently deployed over the Democratic Republic of the Congo, marking the first time the United Nations has used unmanned surveillance aircrafts in its peacekeeping effort to help U.N troops monitor the vast Central African region which has been plagued by violent militias for decades.
The Central African Republic, or C.A.R, is one of the most poverty-stricken countries on Earth despite vast mineral riches. It is a landlocked country in Central Africa that borders Chad in the north, Sudan in the northeast, South Sudan in the east, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo in the south and Cameroon in the west.
The French have ransacked their colony of its natural resources, and successive rulers have treated power as a license to loot. CAR is rich in gold, diamonds and uranium.
As one UNDP official put it, the CAR is a country “sous serum”, or a country metaphorically hooked up to an IV. Over nine months, the weak Central African Republic (CAR) state has collapsed, triggering a serious humanitarian crisis, with 400,000 displaced and nearly half the population in need of assistance. The numbers that have been killed is unclear as large segments of the country have not been assessed.
The stabilization effort (deployment of an African Union peacekeeping mission, made up of troops from a 2008 mission) has not worked and the risk of the CAR becoming ungovernable is now real. The African Union charged with bringing stability to the country will raise the number of troops on the ground to about 6,000, while the number of French troops charged primarily with securing the airport and protecting French interests is at 1,000.
The Seleka, a loose coalition of armed groups that took power in a March 2013 coup, has broken up into multiple armed factions, whose thuggery has triggered violent reactions among the population and instability has already spilled over neighboring Cameroon’s border.
The Central African Republic Bush War began with the rebellion by the Union of Democratic Forces for Unity (UFDR) rebels, led by Michel Djotodia, after the President of the Central African Republic François Bozizé seized control in 2003. However, the fighting began in 2004. A number of peace agreements have been signed to resolve the conflict between 2007 and 2012. The most important agreement, the Global Peace Accord (signed in Libreville, Gabon on 21 June 2008), was first signed by the ARPD, UFDR, and FDPC groups. On 10 December 2012, the conflict restarted with rebel groups accusing President Bozizé of violating the terms of their earlier agreement. The new rebel coalition, known as Séléka, overthrew Bozizé on 24 March 2013, and rebel leader Michel Djotodia declared himself President of the Central African Republic.
Séléka (also called the Séléka CPSK-CPJP-UFDR) is an alliance of militias in the Central African Republic. Nearly all the members of Séléka are Muslim. In September 2013 Michel Djotodia announced that Seleka had been dissolved.
The disbanded group has dispersed into the countryside and has been committing mass atrocities according to Human Rights Watch.
Executions, rape and looting by ex-Seleka fighters after the coup and disbanding have formented religious tension where the population is 80% Christian. Christian militas, known as Anti-Balaka, have been formed to fight the Muslim Seleka. It is reluctant to become embroiled in yet another African conflict. With very limited intervention from the international community, the situation in the fragile country looks likely to deteriorate further.
“It is urgent that Resolution 2127 is now implemented with all speed so that the people of the Central Africa Republic can be spared further suffering, insecurity and violence”. Up to now, the response of the international community has been minuscule. To date, very little of what food, water, and medical assistance that is available has reached the displaced.
In an open letter to the UN on December 12, 2013, Doctors Without Borders writes: [quote]During the growing emergency of the last three months, and most recently in Bangui just a few days ago, there has been no evidence of an adequate humanitarian reaction to the needs generated by repeated outbreaks of violence. The only actions undertaken by UN aid officials have been the collection of data related to the fighting and a few assessments confirming the need for an immediate response. Repeated evaluations in the face of glaring needs, and numerous coordination meetings, have not led to any concrete action around the main hotspots.[/quote]
The people of the CAR deserve better than the glimmer of hope; they deserve immediate relief, as well as eventual justice, served to those who have committed crimes.
When asked about the war in C.A.R — and breaking the CAR’s longstanding cycle of violence and impunity, President Djotodia response was nonchalant. In his interview his response was, “We hear people talk of inter-religious war, sometimes they talk of genocide. What group wants to exterminate the other? Who is planning to exterminate the other?”
Djotodia went on to say, “For me, there is nothing to show that we can even talk of what is going on as genocide. This is simply vengeance. A regime committed abuses, it is now gone. Its victims are taking revenge that is all.”
“There’s no genocide, there is not even an inter-religious war. All of this is made up to manipulate the opinion of the international community … He who wants to drown his dog, accuses it of having rabies, that’s all. Our situation is no less dramatic than that in other countries but it is portrayed as such. It is unfair,” said Djotodia.
Obama urged for peace in C.A.R as two French soliders were killed earlier this week in clashes with rebels. Addressing his remarks to the “proud citizens of the Central African Republic”, the U.S. president said they have the power “to choose a different path” than the violence that led to more than 400 deaths in two days of fighting last week between Christians and Muslims. Obama says he joins Muslim and Christian leaders in calling for calm and peace and says those who are committing crimes should be arrested. – Reuters; Sapa-AP
US CONGRESS
Representative Karen Bass (D-CA) posted on her Facebook page, 12/18/2013: [quote] “Yesterday, the Senate Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on African Affairs held an important hearing on the current humanitarian crisis in the Central African Republic (CAR). Since a coup in March, nearly every citizen of the CAR has been impacted by the violence. More than 600,000 people have fled their homes, and more than 1 million people currently face serious food insecurity. As an international community, we must come together to do all we can to stop the violence and support the people of the CAR. Watch here to see my colleague Chairman U.S. Senator Chris Coons eloquently speak about this hearing and the devastation and violence on Tamaran Hall earlier today.”[/quote]
VIDEO
Also by Katherine Dabo
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