Conflict Rising in Central African Republic
Clashes between UN peacekeepers and Seleka rebel group one part of a "situation waiting to explode"
By Michelle Shephard National Security Reporter
Published on Fri Nov 14 2014
Heavily armed ex-militia members who have been languishing at a camp in the capital of the Central African Republic clashed this week with UN peacekeepers and threatened to detonate an explosives storage facility.
Frustrations at Camp Beal, where members of the predominantly Muslim Seleka rebel group have lived for nearly a year, spilled onto the streets of Bangui as the group blocked two main roadways.
There was no word of casualties during an exchange of gunfire Thursday with the United Nations peacekeepers struggling to bring stability, according to Reuters, but the flare up served as a warning sign of what may come.
“It’s a situation just waiting to explode and could lead to violence at any time, both from the
population and the Seleka themselves,” said Joanne Mariner, an Amnesty International researcher who has spent the past three weeks assessing the situation in CAR.
Camp Beal is just one microcosm of tension in a country that was on the verge of genocide earlier this year and is still mired in violence, despite the presence of a UN peacekeeping mission that started in September.
When the conflict began in 2013, battle lines were drawn between the Seleka, who had taken the capital by force, and vigilante gangs known as anti-balaka, drawn from the country’s majority Christian population.
But after a mass exodus of the country’s Muslim population, who were savagely targeted in revenge for the Seleka’s criminal reign, the warring factions have shifted again.
Travel the landlocked and impoverished country — about the size of France and Austria combined — and each region presents its own challenges for peace.
Almost the entire Muslim population that once lived in Bangui and the west of the country has fled to refugee camps outside of CAR, with no plans yet for their safe return. In the meantime, the anti-balaka forces have devolved into roving criminal gangs, preying on villagers of any faith.
“There have been some awful attacks for economic reasons,” said Mariner. “I interviewed pregnant women who were beaten up, desperately poor people being attacked, terrified or tortured so they’ll give up a tiny amount of savings.”
The Seleka leaders, who took over the government in a March 2013 coup while backed by mercenaries from Chad and Sudan, have regrouped in the north and east, controlling the city of Bambari. Mariner said while there are French troops at the entrance of town and some UN forces roaming the city, it is clear the armed Seleka is in control.
Not that the Seleka is a cohesive unit any more, as splinter factions, including one calling itself the UPC, have formed in the east.
Earlier this week, members of the International Contact Group for CAR, which includes representatives from the UN, U.S., France, and the African and European Unions, met in the capital to discuss the recent increase in violence.
Proposed February elections have been delayed until July at the earliest amid complaints that the internationally backed interim government and UN peacekeeping mission have not been able to act quickly enough to bring much-needed stability.
Camp Beal is not a new security situation, but one that has existed since the ex-militia members were cloistered in the camp, after the Seleka was pushed from power earlier this year and an interim government appointed. While some have moved safely to other areas, many more remain trapped with dwindling resources, waiting for a promised plan for reintegrate into a new inclusive military.
During a visit to the camp in March, the suffering was already clear. One of the leaders, Gueteinale Dieu-Beni, told the Star that a day earlier one camp resident went to get bread in a nearby neighbourhood but was attacked and lynched.
Inside the camp, there were problems as well. One resident, 34-year-old Issa Fadoul Caporal, lay wincing with pain in his foot — the other men said he needed medicine but they did not want to risk leaving the camp and no supplies were coming in. A week later he was dead.
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| African peacekeepers in the Central African Republic. |
By Michelle Shephard National Security Reporter
Published on Fri Nov 14 2014
Heavily armed ex-militia members who have been languishing at a camp in the capital of the Central African Republic clashed this week with UN peacekeepers and threatened to detonate an explosives storage facility.
Frustrations at Camp Beal, where members of the predominantly Muslim Seleka rebel group have lived for nearly a year, spilled onto the streets of Bangui as the group blocked two main roadways.
There was no word of casualties during an exchange of gunfire Thursday with the United Nations peacekeepers struggling to bring stability, according to Reuters, but the flare up served as a warning sign of what may come.
“It’s a situation just waiting to explode and could lead to violence at any time, both from the
population and the Seleka themselves,” said Joanne Mariner, an Amnesty International researcher who has spent the past three weeks assessing the situation in CAR.
Camp Beal is just one microcosm of tension in a country that was on the verge of genocide earlier this year and is still mired in violence, despite the presence of a UN peacekeeping mission that started in September.
When the conflict began in 2013, battle lines were drawn between the Seleka, who had taken the capital by force, and vigilante gangs known as anti-balaka, drawn from the country’s majority Christian population.
But after a mass exodus of the country’s Muslim population, who were savagely targeted in revenge for the Seleka’s criminal reign, the warring factions have shifted again.
Travel the landlocked and impoverished country — about the size of France and Austria combined — and each region presents its own challenges for peace.
Almost the entire Muslim population that once lived in Bangui and the west of the country has fled to refugee camps outside of CAR, with no plans yet for their safe return. In the meantime, the anti-balaka forces have devolved into roving criminal gangs, preying on villagers of any faith.
“There have been some awful attacks for economic reasons,” said Mariner. “I interviewed pregnant women who were beaten up, desperately poor people being attacked, terrified or tortured so they’ll give up a tiny amount of savings.”
The Seleka leaders, who took over the government in a March 2013 coup while backed by mercenaries from Chad and Sudan, have regrouped in the north and east, controlling the city of Bambari. Mariner said while there are French troops at the entrance of town and some UN forces roaming the city, it is clear the armed Seleka is in control.
Not that the Seleka is a cohesive unit any more, as splinter factions, including one calling itself the UPC, have formed in the east.
Earlier this week, members of the International Contact Group for CAR, which includes representatives from the UN, U.S., France, and the African and European Unions, met in the capital to discuss the recent increase in violence.
Proposed February elections have been delayed until July at the earliest amid complaints that the internationally backed interim government and UN peacekeeping mission have not been able to act quickly enough to bring much-needed stability.
Camp Beal is not a new security situation, but one that has existed since the ex-militia members were cloistered in the camp, after the Seleka was pushed from power earlier this year and an interim government appointed. While some have moved safely to other areas, many more remain trapped with dwindling resources, waiting for a promised plan for reintegrate into a new inclusive military.
During a visit to the camp in March, the suffering was already clear. One of the leaders, Gueteinale Dieu-Beni, told the Star that a day earlier one camp resident went to get bread in a nearby neighbourhood but was attacked and lynched.
Inside the camp, there were problems as well. One resident, 34-year-old Issa Fadoul Caporal, lay wincing with pain in his foot — the other men said he needed medicine but they did not want to risk leaving the camp and no supplies were coming in. A week later he was dead.
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