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Crisis in Central African Republic

Divita Shandilya
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Cover Story

The Security Council recently passed a resolution authorising the deployment of a peacekeeping force to the war torn Central African Republic (CAR). The resolution follows a report submitted to the council by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in which he recommended a peacekeeping operation with a robust mandate and outlined a six-point plan for the rapid deployment of at least 3,000 peacekeeping troops to provide reinforcements to the 6,000 African Union soldiers already present in the country under the African led International Support Mission to the CAR (MISCA).1

The UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in CAR (MINUSCA) will be launched on 15 September, 2014 and has a mandate that will initially last till 30 April, 2015. The mission aims to protect civilians, support disarmament and ensure the safe delivery of humanitarian aid.2 Under the resolution, the African Union troops will be integrated into the force as formal UN peacekeepers. In addition to MISCA, France has already sent 2,000 troops to its former colony under operation Sangaris and the European Union is also set to deploy a 1,000 strong military force by the end of this month.3

The recent bout of violence broke out in December 2013 when a pro-Christian militia, anti-Balaka (anti- machete) started retributive attacks against Muslims as a response to the activities of the rebel outfit, Seleka. The Seleka is a predominantly Muslim rebel coalition which over threw President Bozizé in March 2013, after a power sharing agreement between the rebel groups and Bozizé’s government broke down, and installed Michel Djotodia as the first Muslim President of the majority Christian state. Though Djotodia disbanded the Seleka soon after he assumed office, the rebels refused to disarm, becoming even more brutal as they veered out of government control and started targeting Christians and vandalising and burning entire villages.4

The CAR has a long history of political instability. After years of successive authoritarian regimes, the first multi-party democratic elections were held in the country in 1993, over three decades after independence. Ange-Félix Patassé came to power following the elections but was overthrown in 2003 by General Francois Bozizé. Bozizé himself won the democratic election in 2005 which was followed by a re-election in 2011. The 2011 election, however, was widely considered fraudulent and his corrupt and autocratic rule led to the coming together of rebel groups to form the Seleka (which means the “alliance” in the local language).

The political movement which started in opposition to Bozizé’s government has become increasingly religious in nature. Nearly all the Seleka are Muslim and it is believed that they include Muslim mercenaries from Chad and the Janjaweed from Sudan’s Darfur region in their ranks. The Christian vigilante militias have in turn started committing atrocities against the Muslims. In recent months, the violence against Muslims has continued unabated and the Muslim population in CAR has severely depleted, with thousands having been killed or displaced and forced to flee to neighbouring countries. The ferocity of the violence against the Muslims, who formed 15% of the CAR’s population until a year ago, is made stark by a UN report which says that the 130,000 to 145,000 strong Muslim population of the country’s capital, Bangui has been reduced to only 900 since fighting renewed in December.5

As revenge attacks against Muslims continue to become more aggressive, fears of the outbreak of genocide are being expressed by international agencies. Amnesty International has termed the violence as “ethnic cleansing.” The UN has also sent an investigation team to the CAR with the mission of verifying whether there is a possibility of genocide in the war ravaged country.6

However, there are others who feel that it would be premature and inaccurate to deem the situation as genocide. Catherine Samba-Panza, the new President of CAR, who was elected by a National Transitional Council (NTC) after Djotodia resigned in January, 2014, has categorically termed the conflict as a “community conflict with religious aspects” and said that CAR does not have an ethnic problem as a particular ethnic group was not being killed.7 Ban Ki-moon seemed to echo her sentiment when he said in a statement that the violence in CAR was not a result of religious conflict but was caused by religious and ethnic affiliations being manipulated for political purposes.8

Economic and social deprivation along with denial of political privileges has plagued the country for long, deepening ethnic fissures and fuelling tensions between communities. The citizens remain poor and have little access to medical services and education despite the fact that the CAR is rich in natural resources and minerals such as gold and diamond. The weak social fabric of the country and unstable economic and political institutions made it easier to polarise the country. After the government was overthrown in 2013, the collapse of state institutions accelerated and led to a complete breakdown of the social structure.

While the nature and causes of conflict continue to be debated, the scale and severity of the violence has led to the precipitation of a humanitarian and food crisis in one of the world’s poorest countries. The UN has warned of an acute food crisis as it estimates that over one million people are in need of immediate food aid. Meanwhile, the refugee crisis is deepening as almost one million people have fled their homes since the outbreak of violence. According to a recent report from UNHCR, more than half of the population of the capital city of Bangui has been displaced, out of which nearly 60 per cent are children. With many of the refugees fleeing to Chad and Cameroon, the CAR’s two neighbours are feeling the pressure of providing refugees with relief camps equipped with basic amenities such as food and water. The conflict has also led to unprecedented levels of violence against children. Children are not only being targeted in vicious revenge attacks but have also been recruited by the armed militias in large numbers.9

With the inception of a new interim government, the international community has an opportunity to rally and coordinate its response to the crisis. Catherine Samba-Panza, who was previously the mayor of Bangui, is heading the interim government which has been given a year to stabilise the situation. While she has shown resolve and has taken a strong stand against the Christian militias saying that she would “go to war” against the anti-Balaka who had lost their sense of mission, she has also acknowledged that without the support of the international community, the government would not be able to restore order in the country as they lack the resources to stabilize the security situation and address the humanitarian concerns at the same time.10

MISCA has repeatedly been described as inadequate as it simply does not have enough troops on the ground. Since Chad’s decision earlier this month to withdraw its 850 troops from MISCA amidst allegations of human right violations by the Chadian troops and suspicion that the Chadian contingent is allied with the Seleka rebels, the force has been weakened further. Additionally, the head of MISCA has conveyed that the mission faces great shortcomings due to limited logistical support, outdated communications equipment and insubstantial airlift capacity.11 Therefore, there is a need to expand the mission to keep up with the worsening situation and also to address the functional limitations of the force.

The UN resolution comes not a moment too soon but the actual deployment of troops is still a few months away as modalities about the troop contributing nations and funding are yet to be figured out. In the meantime, international organisations should work to strengthen the peacekeeping forces already present on the ground and step up their humanitarian aid, in keeping with the urgency of the situation. The crisis is of a disturbing magnitude but a swift and effective response may still pull the country back from the verge of complete collapse.

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