Highlights
- Baba Laddé, Chadian leader of the rebel group FRP, expelled by the government
- Abdoulaye Miskine of FDPC denounces 2007 peace agreements
- Arrival of new NGO Community Humanitarian Emergency Board (COHEB)
- Establishment of a multifunctional platform (PFMF) in Paoua
- Sahle-Work Zewde, Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations (SRSG), visited Birao
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Posted in Central African Republic, GBV, aid, child soldiers, children, gender, human rights, internal displacement, rebels, sexual violence, violence on Feb 11th, 2009 No Comments »
Grave violations against children are being perpetrated by all parties to the various conflicts in the Central African Republic (CAR), including rape and armed recruitment into the fighting forces, according to a United Nations report released today.
Non-State armed groups and bandits are also kidnapping children as a means of recruitment and to threaten and extort ransom from the population, while abuses against youngsters generally are committed in a climate of impunity, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon writes in his latest report to the Security Council on children and armed conflict in CAR.
“I call on all parties to the conflict to immediately and without precondition cease the recruitment and use of children and to identify and release to the United Nations those children already in their ranks,” he says.
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Posted in APRD, Central African Republic, development, government, info bulletin, rebels, roads, security, sitrep, violence on Aug 18th, 2008 No Comments »
Highlights
- Clashes in the north west of CAR
- New MINURCAT Police Chief
- World Bank provides US$ 7 million for Food Response Project
- UN Humanitarian Air Service in jeopardy
Background and security
Clashes in the north west of CAR
After suspending their participation in the Inclusive Political Dialogue, several clashes between the Popular army for the restoration of democracy (APRD) and government forces have been reported in the north west of the country. Fighting reportedly took place on 8 August near Ngaoundaye, on 12 August near Man, and on 13 and 14 August between Ouandago and Kabo, though the identity of the rebels in this last skirmish was not confirmed.
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Posted in BONUCA, Bouar, Central African Republic, bandits, disarmament, government, health, hiv, rebels, security, sitrep on Aug 5th, 2008 No Comments »
Highlights
- The Popular Army for the Restoration of Democracy (APRD) suspends its participation in the process leading up to the political dialogue.
- A barge crossing the Oubangui river in CAR, sank, killing 42.
Background and security
The APRD pulls out of the political dialogue
The President of the Popular Army for the Restoration of Democracy (APRD), Jean-Jacques Démafouth said in a press release that his organisation had suspended its participation in the process leading up to the political dialogue. Mr. Démafouth has also stated that the APRD had withdrown from a ceasefire and a global peace agreement signed on 9 May and 21 June 2008. The APRD made that resolution because they disapprove parts of a proposed general amnesty law.
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Posted in NAF, UNDP, Zaraguinas, development, humanitarian crisis, poverty, rebels, refugees, sanitation, security, violence on Jun 24th, 2008 No Comments »
Download the 2008 Needs Analysis Framework in English (2.1 MB) - PDF
The Needs Analysis Framework analyzes the humanitarian needs in the Central African Republic, mainly of civilians living in the northern areas affected by conflict and violence. As a consequence of poverty and under-development, and aggravated by the violent conflict and banditry, urgent needs exist in all sectors. First and foremost, the humanitarian crisis in CAR is a protection and human rights crisis, with 305,000 people being forced to flee their homes. But many people also have no access to hospitals, health centres, schools, and markets, they have no drinking water and cannot work their fields, and many have no roof to protect them from the rains. Continue Reading »
(IRIN) - The signing on 9 May of a ceasefire between the government of Central African Republic and the only rebel group that had yet to join a national peace process has drawn mixed reactions from within the country.
The truce with the Armée populaire pour la restauration de la république et la démocratie (APRD), based in northwestern CAR, was signed in the Gabonese capital, Libreville, after a month of discussions with the Bangui government.
As well as a cessation of hostilities, the APRD has undertaken to restrict its fighters to their bases. The accord also paves the way for an amnesty, subject to a bill to be put before the national assembly. Continue Reading »
On Friday May 9th, the Central African Republic Government and the Popular Army for Unity and Democracy (APRD) signed a much awaited cease fire and peace agreement in Libreville, Gabon. In presence of Gabon’s President Bongo Ondimba, and the Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations, François Lonseny Fall, both parties agreeded to an immediate cessation of hostilities.
Jean-Jacques Demafouth, recently appointed political head of the APRD, declared that the Government had committed to granting a general amnesty and “an end to all legal prosecutions currently in progress” against APRD rebels. Instead, they will stay in camps “pending their disarmament, demobilisation or integration into the army.” The fate of exiled former President Ange-Felix Patassé himself remains unclear. Regarded as the driving force behind the APRD by the Government of the Central African Republic, he was sentenced in 2006 to 20 years’ hard labour for his part in the rebel movement. Continue Reading »
Important achievements have been made in the inclusive political dialogue initiated at the end of 2007 to put an end to the recurrent violence in the Central African Republic. Over the last three months, the dialogue’s Preparatory Committee (CPDPI) has managed to bring together all major political and military actors as well as reach consensus on the need to find a political solution to the country’s divisions.
All rebel movements, including the Popular Army for Democratic Restoration (APRD), which only joined the CPDPI last month, have committed to sit with the government, opposition parties and civil society in order to open a constructive dialogue. The committee’s final document will set general conditions for the dialogue and will be officially delivered to President François Bozizé in the coming days. This hand-over will mark the end of the preparatory stage and the beginning of the actual dialogue. Continue Reading »
(Anthony Morland, IRIN) - “Can you help me find my husband?” asked an elderly resident of this dusty, traumatised town in the northwest of the Central African Republic (CAR).
The old woman explained she had last seen him three months previously when he and his brother were kidnapped by bandits known as Zaraguina just outside Paoua.
Asked to pay a ransom to secure her husband’s release, the woman managed to raise three million CFA francs (about US$6,600) - a fantastic sum in a country where two-thirds of the population survive on less than a dollar a day - by selling the family’s livestock.
But those she paid either betrayed her or had no connection with the kidnappers; now destitute, she is still waiting to be reunited with her husband. Continue Reading »
Abakar Sabone and Michel Djotodia, respectively spokesman and chairman of the rebel group UFDR (Union of Democratic Forces for the Rally) were released by the Beninese authorities on Tuesday. They were arrested in November 2006, after the Central African Republic state prosecutor issued an international search warrant. Their liberation could bode significant advancements in the peace negotiations between the CAR government and the rebels in the North East of the country.
A few days earlier on Saturday 16th, François Lonsény Fall, Representative of the UN Secretary General in CAR, met with Laurent Djim-Woei, delegated by the APRD (Popular Army for the Restoration of Democracy) in order to encourage the participation of the Northwestern rebel forces to the inclusive political dialogue organized by the government.
These two developments are characteristic of the relative lull in the climate of violence that has devastated the north of the country. Continue Reading »
Tuesday, February 12th, the deployment of EUFOR troops resumed after an 11 day stoppage caused by the rebellion break through in Chad.
The instable polititcal situation in Chad has generated further delay in the deployment of the EUFOR Chad/CAR, which will support the UN mission MINURCAT already operating in Chad and Sudan. But according to Javier Solana, High Representative for the European Union’s Common Foreign and Security Policy, rebellion in Chad is not compromising the peace keeping mission: Continue Reading »
(New York/Bangui): John Holmes, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, today made clear his deep concern about the 50,000 Central Africans who have fled into Chad.
“Over the past two months alone, nearly 6,000 Central Africans escaping from violence in northern CAR [Central African Republic] have arrived in southern Chad. These are people who have lost everything. The current crisis in Chad means that they risk being uprooted and displaced again,” said Mr. Holmes. Continue Reading »
The UN/EU peacekeeping mission to Chad and the Central African Republic is rapidly taking shape. The European Union is determined to dispatch 4,300 troops from 20 countries within the next weeks. They will work alongside 350 United Nations police and military personnel who will work to protect the fragile triangle between CAR, Chad and the war-torn Darfur region in Sudan. This article is a complete round-up on the current situation of this crucial mission to stabilize the region. Continue Reading »
Responding to persistent pockets of insecurity in the Central African Republic, the UN Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) will provide over $800,000 to forge a more inclusive political dialogue within the country. The project, called the Inclusive Political Dialogue, makes CAR the second country to be awarded PBF funding under emergency provisions and the fourth country to win funding overall. The Inclusive Political Dialogue will bring the government, opposition parties and armed groups together for internationally-mediated negotiations before the end of the year. Continue Reading »
The Human Rights Watch team that visited the Central African Republic in February and March this year has now released their comprehensive assessment of the human rights situation in the country.
The report “documents the human rights abuses and breaches of international humanitarian law being committed in northern CAR and describes the make-up, origins, and aims of the most significant rebel groups. The Popular Army for the Restoration of the Republic and Democracy (Armée populaire pour la restauration de la République et la démocratie, APRD) is active in the northwestern provinces of Ouham, Ouham-Pendé, and Nana-Grébizi. The Union of Democratic Forces for Unity (Union des forces démocratiques pour la rassemblement, UFDR) is most active in remote northeastern provinces of Bamingui-Bangoran and Vakaga.” Human rights abuses committed by the FACA and the Presidential Guard are reported in detail.
Click here to access the Human Rights Watch report
Click here to access the US State Department’s 2006 Human Rights Report for CAR
