In the Central African Republic, the government strongly rejected, on Monday April 4, 2022, the accusations of abuses brought by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights against its army and its Russian allies. The latter are notably accused of sexual violence, acts of torture and inhuman treatment. According to the UN, the responsibility lies with the Central African state.
Last week, Michelle Bachelet denounced the human rights violations committed mostly by the rebels, but also by the Faca and their Russian allies who are in fact mercenaries from the Wagner group. The latter are notably accused of sexual violence, acts of torture and inhuman treatment, the responsibility for which lies with the Central African State, according to the UN.
According to a press release from the United Nations, during the last quarter of 2021, Minusca announces that it has documented 363 incidents of human rights violations, abuses and breaches of international humanitarian law which concern 848 victims. Also according to the same press release, almost 59% of these incidents were attributed to the armed groups signatories to the February 2019 peace agreement while the national security forces and their allies were responsible for 40% of the incidents – a sharp increase. compared to the 23% recorded in January 2021.
Denial of the authorities
In Bangui, the government questions the conclusions of this report. “ Already the report mentions deaths in the city of Boyo, for example, while we checked, it is false, there was nothing, believes Serge-Ghislain Djorie, Minister of Communication and government spokesman. I say, I reiterate that this report is contrary to the reality on the ground. I think everything was done, quite simply, I say it loud and clear, to tarnish the image of our country, to justify the financing of non-governmental organizations. »
And the government spokesperson adds: We have tarnished the image of our security defense forces and our allies enough. It’s true that when we were in difficulty, there are countries that were willing to help us, and you know that everywhere in the world when you are in conflict and you react, the military reacts, necessarily there are collateral damages. Automatically shouting from the rooftops that it’s violation of human rights, violation of this, that, crime, so on… when did you see that when there is a war there is no there was no death of men? There is a commission that has been set up, signed by the president to the decree that has been issued, I ask you to the Central African people and to the international community to simply wait for the results of the investigations of this commission, and that I think people would be amazed “, concludes the Central African official.
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