The human rights organization HRW publishes this Tuesday May 3 a report denouncing forces linked to Russia, which could belong to the paramilitary group Wagner, of having summarily executed, tortured, beaten civilians in February 2019 and November 2021 in the Central African Republic.
From “ convincing evidence ” demonstrate that Russian paramilitaries supporting the power in the Central African Republic have committed ” serious abuse on civilians, including murder and torture, “ with impunity since 2019. This is what Human Rights Watch (HRW) estimates in a report published on Tuesday, May 3.
For Lewis Mudge, Central Africa director for the organization, there is no doubt about the origin of these armed men, even if their activities in the country are still very vague. ” Central Africans are very capable of distinguishing between foreign forces from another country like France, for example, and forces who speak Russian, who travel with Russian vehicles, who wear the same uniforms as the Russian soldiers who are in Bangui or in Berengo “, he explains, at the microphone ofSebastien Nemeth.
Evidence from Western governments and the UN
The report clearly establishes a link, drawing on “ evidence put forward by Western governments and UN experts, between these “ russian forces » and Wagner, who according to him « obvious ties to the Russian government “.
“ The most serious crime that we have documented was a mass summary execution on July 28, 2021 north of the city of Bossangoa in broad daylight and against people who were not armed. We documented a dozen deaths, it could be a war crime “says Lewis Mudge.
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” Apart from that, we have documented several cases of detention, torture in Alindao, in Basse-Kotto, in a military camp which was run by the Russians, armed, circulating with the national forces. »
Asked by HRW on the charges of the report, neither the Central African government nor the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded, according to the NGO. ” We asked questions to the Central African government and of course the Russian government, and so far we do not have their answer he continues. Russia consistently claims that Russian paramilitaries are “ unarmed military instructors responsible for training Central African soldiers.
A civil war that has waned
The Central African Republic, one of the poorest countries in the world, has been the scene since 2013 of a very deadly civil war at the start, but which has considerably decreased in intensity since 2018. President Faustin-Archange Touadéra, however, called for the end of 2020 Moscow to the rescue of a weak and helpless army to repel a rebel offensive that threatened Bangui and the regime.
Hundreds of Russian paramilitaries, mercenaries of the private security company Wagner, according to the UN and Western capitals, were sent to reinforce hundreds of others who had already supported the regime since 2018. Thanks to them, armed groups, rebels or simple predators, have been pushed back by a two-thirds majority of the territory they still occupied in 2020.
But the UN, the European Union and countries, such as France in particular, accuse the mercenaries » of Wagner to commit crimes and abuses against civilians, and the power of Faustin-Archange Touadéra to let them plunder the country’s resources in exchange for their military support.
(with AFP)