First woman to lead Central African Republic faces daunting task
Catherine Samba-Panza speaks to members of the National Transitional Council after being elected interim president of the Central African Republic on Monday. Samba-Panza, a French-educated businesswoman, has been serving as mayor of the country's capital, Bangui. (Eric Feferberg / AFP/Getty Images / January 20, 2014)
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - Lawmakers in the Central African Republic on Monday elected the country's first female leader, Catherine Samba-Panza, as interim president to take on the daunting job of halting sectarian killings, stabilizing a paralyzed country and ushering in elections.
Samba-Panza, a French-educated businesswoman who has been serving as mayor of the country's capital, Bangui, emerged ahead of seven other candidates, including the sons of two former presidents, after a speech pledging to reconcile the country's divisions, restore security and rebuild the collapsed state.
Samba-Panza's election follows the resignation of former rebel leader Michel Djotodia as interim president 10 days ago. As head of the largely Muslim Seleka rebels, he seized power to become the first Muslim president in a country whose population is 85% Christian. He disbanded the Seleka rebels but failed to stop lootings, killings and sectarian violence between ex-Seleka forces and largely Christian militias and vigilantes known as the anti-balaka forces.
Samba-Panza, a Christian, was appointed by Djotodia as Bangui mayor last year. In a hopeful sign, her election as interim president was welcomed by a spokesman for the anti-balaka forces, Reuters reported. Anti-balaka forces had earlier threatened violence over the vote.
Peter Bouckaert, director of emergencies at Human Rights Watch .. http://www.latimes.com/topic/social-issues/human-rights/human-rights-watch-ORNPR00003940.topic , said Samba-Panza's election is "a step in the right direction," calling her a courageous voice for reconciliation and peace. He called for those who have committed crimes against humanity to be held accountable, including leaders of the anti-balaka forces, many of whom are vigilante groups outside any formal chain of command.
This past weekend saw a new surge of violence, particularly in the northwest of the country, where dozens were killed, according to humanitarian agencies.
"There's a lot of violence taking place between communities, particularly in the northwest. We are extremely concerned about the fact that the population is generally without protection," she said. "It's a very difficult situation, and it's important for us to insist on the fact that such violence must end."
The deputy head of the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Bangui, Amy Martin, said by phone that the recent surge of violence mainly involved anti-balaka fighters taking revenge on Muslim communities, whom they blame for the earlier suffering they endured at the hands of the Seleka rebels.
"We have had clashes between ex-Seleka and anti-balaka as well as the targeting of Muslim people. This past weekend we have seen clashes which left many people dead, people displaced, or taking revenge," Martin said.
"We have different types of violence happening, and it's hard to predict where the next attack will happen," she added. "The country is in economic paralysis, the country is in political paralysis, as well as this state of insecurity."
Some 1,000 people died in violence last month and more than 900,000 people -- 20% of the 4.5 million population -- have fled their homes, nearly half a million of them sheltering in the capital. Thousands of others are hiding in the forests in rural areas.
Many Muslims desperate to flee the country to escape revenge attacks after Djotodia's resignation have been attacked on the roads and killed, according to humanitarian agencies and media reports.
More than 4,000 African forces and 1,600 French troops are currently deployed in the Central African Republic but have been unable to protect sections of the population, particularly in volatile rural areas far from the capital. EU foreign ministers agreed Monday to send an extra 1,000 troops to help stabilize the country.
The EU also agreed at a separate humanitarian meeting in Brussels Monday to send nearly $500 million to help stabilize the Central African Republic and address pressing humanitarian needs, according to Kristalina Georgieva, EU Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response.
"Central Africans are enduring a major humanitarian tragedy and their suffering is truly appalling," she said in a statement. "The international humanitarian community assembled in Brussels today is determined to reinforce assistance and provide urgently needed aid to the most vulnerable," she said in the statement.
U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator Valeria Amos said in a statement that the crisis was one of the world body's most pressing emergencies, with agencies delivering help as fast as security conditions allow.
"I am deeply disturbed by the impact of the crisis on ordinary people in CAR. The brutality, violence and sectarian nature of the crisis concerns us all," Amos said.
With thousands of farmers in hiding, unable to buy seeds or plant crops, fears are growing that the humanitarian crisis could worsen in coming months. The World Food Program announced Monday that it was running out of food to assist displaced people. Thirty-eight of its trucks are marooned at the Cameroon border because of fighting in the Central African Republic. It was considering airlifting food into the country.
"The impact on food supplies to the capital and the rest of the country is disastrous. [World Food Program] cereal stocks are close to being exhausted," the statement said.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, told a session of the U.N. Human Rights Council that Seleka rebels, anti-balaka forces, Muslim and Christian civilians had all committed atrocities. She said that when French forces disarmed ex-Seleka rebels, it appeared to have left Muslim communities vulnerable to revenge attacks.
She said a U.N. human rights mission sent last month to investigate abuses found evidence of "targeted killings, shooting at displacement sites, summary executions, mutilation and enforced disappearances."
She added: "The mission received consistent, credible testimony and photographs supporting allegations that anti-balaka mutilated Muslim men, women and children, before or after they were killed, including upon the breasts of female victims and genitals of male victims. Bodies were found at the Ali Babolo mosque with limbs cut off."
She said there were documented cases of sexual violence, including rape and sexual slavery, by both sides, but mostly by ex-Seleka.
"The security situation remains highly volatile," she said, "with upsurges of sectarian violence and an increase in opportunistic criminality. The humanitarian situation continues to be a major concern."
Outside Powers Are Making the Conflict in the Central African Republic Worse
----- 2013 - "Neighboring Crises In South Sudan, Central African Republic
[...]
As Reuters writes .. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/19/us-centralafrican-usa-power-idUSBRE9BI06520131219 , "waves of massacres and reprisals by Muslim and Christian militias have killed hundreds [in the Central African Republic] since rebels seized power in March, waking the world up to the fact that it might be witnessing the prelude to another Rwanda, where 800,000 were hacked, shot or clubbed to death in 100 days."
Power's message, Michele said, is that "mob violence is quick, but real justice takes time." She's trying to convince activists on both sides not to resort to more violence.
Power is also bringing news of U.S. aid: $100 million to help the French military bring African peacekeepers to the country; and $15 million in humanitarian aid." -----
Welcome back Samantha. That was 2013. Hoping for better results this time around.
Proxy wars pitting France and Chad against Russia and Rwanda threaten to destabilize the entire region while subjecting Central Africans to more violence and instability.
By John A. Lechner, Alexandra Lamarche | January 22, 2021, 3:11 PM
Soldiers with the United Nations stabilization mission in Central African Republic patrol in PK12 district, south of downtown Bangui, Central African Republic, on Jan. 13.
BANGUI, Central African Republic—Citizens of the Central African Republic (CAR) went to the polls on Dec. 27 to select their next president and legislature. But even after the announcement of preliminary results in the early evening of Jan. 4—President Faustin-Archange Touadéra, the incumbent, secured a second mandate with 53 percent of the vote .. https://www.radiondekeluka.org/actualites/politique/36466-rca-elections-2020-la-cour-constitutionnelle-confirme-la-victoire-de-faustin-archange-touadera.html —an enduring sense of vulnerability continues to permeate the country, culminating in numerous attacks from armed groups on key cities including the capital, Bangui.
Just days before the elections, CAR’s constitutional court invalidated former President François Bozizé’s candidacy, leading to the sudden emergence of a rebel alliance that quickly captured towns near Bangui. The military response from Russia and Rwanda on behalf of the Central African government rapidly internationalized the conflict, while the G5—composed of the African Union, United Nations, European Union, United States, and France—finds itself in an awkward position, championing elections that many believe were neither safe nor fair. Touadéra has declared war on the rebel alliance, but many question whether his government represents all Central Africans, and if it has the ability or willingness to take on armed groups.
As a result, the conflict in CAR has become increasingly geopolitical—with France and Chad on one side, and Russia and Rwanda on the other. These actors will only intensify a crisis of overmilitarization in a region suffering from the effects of climate change, instability, lack of good governance, and displacement.
Indeed, the geopolitical stakes, and political division in Bangui, have already exacerbated a dire humanitarian crisis. With the security situation deteriorating rapidly, the international community must now focus on providing Central Africans with desperately needed aid and supplying peacekeeping operations with the funds they need to protect citizens.
==========
Tensions had been mounting between Touadéra and his former boss-turned-rival, Bozizé,
----- [Putin Moves to Heighten Russia’s Role After Suleimani Killing [...] While a conventional Russian military presence in Iraq would be unlikely, some Russian analysts interviewed by Foreign Policy speculated that mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner Group, a shadowy private military contractor that has waged war on behalf of the Kremlin and for profit in Syria, Ukraine, and in parts of Africa, could appear in Iraq in the wake of a U.S. withdrawal. The future role of U.S. troops in Iraq remains up in the air currently, as the Pentagon rushed to deny reports .. https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/01/06/pentagon-bats-down-reports-us-leaving-iraq-letter-mistake/ .. on Monday that it was withdrawing troops from the country after an unsigned letter from Brig. Gen. William Seely, the commander of the U.S. task force in Iraq, saying that the Pentagon would respect the decision to the Iraqi parliament calling for U.S. troops to leave. ----- INSERT: How Russia Meddles Abroad for Profit: Cash, Trolls and a Cult Leader https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=153221429] -----
Still, in many areas Central Africans turned out in surprisingly high numbers to voice their exasperation with armed groups and Bozizé’s attempted coup.
==========
Increased fighting in CAR leads to more displacement and humanitarian crises. At present, more than 2.8 million .. https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/sites/www.humanitarianresponse.info/files/documents/files/ocha_car_hrp_2021_fr_vf.pdf .. Central Africans—out of the country’s 4.9 million population—need humanitarian assistance. Recent election violence has forced close to 120,000 .. https://news.un.org/fr/story/2021/01/1086772 .. to flee their homes—half of which have sought refuge in neighboring countries. Now ordinary citizens find themselves in even greater danger as the delicate balance of power shifts among local politicians, international actors, and armed groups.
Bozizé has been the primary catalyst for this shift.
Since coming to power in 2016, Touadéra has failed to expand state authority much beyond the capital. For Gervais Lakasso, a prominent civil-society leader, “Touadéra doesn’t have support in the provinces. They like opposition candidate Martin Ziguélé because he wants to fight the armed groups.”
But the most recent attacks have shown that the FACA is weak and ill-equipped. Gervais adds, “It’s clear that Russian training did not do much. FACA fled immediately.” Perhaps hundreds .. https://www.journalducameroun.com/en/at-least-117-car-soldiers-flee-to-cameroon-following-repeated-rebel-attacks/ .. deserted in the current fighting. For many in Bangui, this was a shock; it seemed that FACA was becoming a professional force, capable of retaking the country.
Maka Gbossokotto—a CAR newspaper editor—was not surprised: “Three months of training [the standard] is not enough, they aren’t prepared to go to the front.” Viola Giuliano, of the Center for Civilians in Conflict, explains “there are two defense forces. The first is the presidential guard, which has privileged access to equipment and means. The second, ‘normal’ FACA, is deployed outside Bangui in deplorable conditions. No fuel for patrol. Salaries not paid for months and rotations are often delayed.”
It’s clear that proxy wars are a major source of instability in CAR.
France’s economic and political interests in the region reflect a long-standing and deeply unpopular history of colonialism, followed by post-colonial military interventions.
Thierry Vircoulon, an expert at the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI), argues that France and Russia are locked in a proxy war, “but the stakes are not CAR. This war of influence in CAR is part of the bigger picture of Russo-French relations since the crisis in Ukraine.” While other countries may represent more important strategic interests—such as Libya, Syria, or Ukraine—Moscow’s presence in CAR is a cost-effective means to undermine France’s perceived influence over its former colonies.
On a regional level, outside intervention may represent the interests of powerful government officials, but not governments themselves. For example, Chadian involvement in the conflict, according to Gervais, surrounds elites’ investment in cattle.
This is not to say that the conflict in CAR is just a proxy war. At a local level, politicians seek international support for their own individual aims. Touadéra made a political decision .. https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/in-depth-research-reports/issue-brief/central-african-republic-ground-zero-for-russian-influence-in-central-africa/ .. when he “surrendered a great part of [CAR’s] sovereignty to pro-Kremlin security emissaries.” But this is nothing new. CAR’s aging politicians—the same faces have been around for decades—have a tradition of outsourcing the security of their politically weak regimes to outsiders.
All participants—from powerful international organizations to ordinary citizens—are now walking a tight-rope.
The G5, according to Thierry, “supported a mockery of an election, and appeared to side with Toudéra. They didn’t say anything when the government decided to withdraw electoral rights for 600,000 (mostly Muslim) refugees” that fled into surrounding countries since the outbreak of the civil war.
In fact, many locals now view Russia, Rwanda, and MINUSCA as partisan supporters of Touadéra. Bozizé, in turn, has little standing following his attempted coup. Viola put it simply: “The fact that he turned to armed groups to undermine the elections suggests that he doesn’t have sufficient support among civilians to mobilize popular uprisings.”
France’s economic and political interests in the region reflect a long-standing and deeply unpopular history of colonialism, followed by post-colonial military interventions.
Finally, on Jan. 13 rebel groups stormed the capital. National forces and U.N. peacekeepers successfully repelled rebel advances—losing one Rwandan peacekeeper .. https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/01/1082022 .. in the effort. But threats still loom as armed factions remain stationed along the outskirts of Bangui.
Armed groups’ attempts to take over Bangui and other towns have terrified civilians, disrupted trade routes, and limited humanitarian access to those in need. They are worsening an already critical humanitarian crisis. An international response, therefore, should prioritize Central African civilians first.
First, concerned governments and donors must address the country’s humanitarian needs; CAR received only 65 percent .. https://fts.unocha.org/appeals/923/summary .. of its funding needs in 2020, and 51 percent of its COVID-19 related funding needs.
The second priority must be reform. After so many failed attempts at peace, the reality remains that territorial integrity is crucial for CAR’s stability. But FACA’s recent performance shows that they cannot guarantee that integrity on their own and that the international community should continue to push for security sector reform, not simply more arms or troops.
Like other fragile countries, CAR’s government, and its international allies, have failed to fund and enact a comprehensive response in good faith; one that would improve governance, strengthen the FACA across the country, quell armed violence, and protect Central Africans.
CAR is much more than a “security vacuum” in the region; in fact, many of the sources of the country’s instability come from beyond its borders. But the increasingly international nature of the conflict, and the focus on military solutions, will continue to overshadow the socioeconomic roots of CAR’s insecurity. Unfortunately, half-funded programs, and half-hearted reforms will only to result in half-baked solutions that lead to more instability, displacement, and death.
John A. Lechner is a graduate student at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. Twitter: @JohnLechner1
Alexandra Lamarche is Refugees International’s Senior Advocate for West and Central Africa, where her work focuses on conflict and displacement crises. Twitter: @AlyLamb
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