IPIS publishes a report examining the presence, behaviour and motivation of the armed groups operating in CAR during 2008

The International Peace Information Service (IPIS), a research institution based in Belgium, has finished their third study in the IPIS mapping series, which focuses on the conflict motives of armed groups within the Central African Republic.

IPIS describes the country as “tormented by a multitude of armed actors” who “have one thing in common: each of them would be a weak opponent for any well-organised state, but then this is exactly what the country lacks.”

The research for the report was conducted in CAR at the end of 2008.

Further information

• The report is available for download here: IPIS - Mapping Conflict Motives in CAR (PDF, 1MB)
• The report is complemented by a series of interactive web maps exploring the different actors present in CAR, together with data on natural resources, ethnic groups and incidents. The maps are available on the IPIS website at www.ipisresearch.be
• Please continue reading for IPIS’s summary of the different armed groups operating in the country

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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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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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The UNICEF representation in the Central African Republic has just published their monthly report for June 2008. It contains an excellent overview on the current humanitarian, political and security situation, as well as a description of UNICEF’s projects in CAR.

Here is the summary:

• CAR is placed on the United Nations Peacebuilding Commission’s agenda
• Peace agreement signed between the CAR government, APRD and UFDR
• The UN Fund grants UNICEF US$5.8million to purchase 740,000 mosquito nets
• UNICEF signs new agreements with COOPI, IMC, IPHD, IRC and Merlin
• Mass vaccination campaign against Yellow Fever is held in northwestern CAR
• International Day of the African Child is celebrated
• The construction of 404 latrines is completed in northern CAR
• Current UNICEF appeal funded at just 29%

Click here to download the report (PDF - 1.2MB)

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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 »

In Birao, in northeastern CAR, women and children have been particularly affected by what they nervously call “the events”, the fights between the rebel forces of the Movement of Democratic Forces for Unity (UFDR) and the government forces.

In a previous post, we published letters from women who were victims of violence and recalled their personal and family experience. This time, Children are talking about the attacks. Under the supervision of social workers, they told their stories and drew the scenes they witnessed.

13 year old boy

I ran from Birao to Roukoutou. We crossed a river and once there, there was nothing to eat. We suffered a lot. So we learned to fish and hunt. We stayed there for 45 days before we came back to Birao. Continue Reading »

Often ignored, sometimes treated with discretion, sexual violence remains a sensitive issue in the Central African Republic. Although thousands of women have been victims of physical, psychological, and social trauma, their suffering remains largely silent.

Some women were raped by soldiers from neighbouring armies; others were attacked by rebels or national soldiers in conflict areas. Many are everyday victims of a society disrupted by years of conflict. Adding to their personal and physical burdens, CAR’s victims of sexual violence are often denied justice and face rejection from their community. Continue Reading »

In Birao, in northeastern CAR, women and children have been particularly affected by what they nervously call “the events”, the fights between the rebel forces of the Movement of Democratic Forces for Unity (UFDR) and the government forces.
In their own words, the women of Birao talk about the attacks on their villages, their escape, their pain and their memories.

First woman

“During the battle, I was giving birth. I took my daughter on my back and walked until Am Dafock… I reached Am Dafock at night. In the morning I had given birth… a baby boy. My husband went the other way. Me, I took the children of my dead brother. Three boys. Their mother went back to her parent’s.” Continue Reading »

Several thousands of women and young girls have endured rape and other sexual violence in the conflict-torn north of the Central African Republic (CAR). Research suggests that sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) strikes well over 15 percent of women and girls in the region.

Rape cases are being reported in northern CAR on a weekly basis. The most recent reports mention two twelve-year old girls, who were raped while searching for firewood in the bush near their shelter. A local newspaper also described the ordeal of a thirteen-year old girl assaulted earlier this month on her way to sell palm oil at a market. Health workers in the western province of Nana-Mambéré have expressed shock at the increasing number of rapes of women and girls. Continue Reading »

Professor Philip Alston, Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Human Rights Council on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions visited the Central African Republic to inquire into extra-judicial executions in the recent past.

In his preliminary report, he states that “Up until very recently Government forces were burning entire villages to the ground and summarily executing large numbers of people. As of today, these abuses have fallen dramatically. But while President Bozizé has shown that he has the power to prevent the military from committing human rights abuses, it is still too early to conclude that the Government has definitively turned a new page.” A final, detailed report will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council in June. We are posting his full statement below. Continue Reading »

(New York/Bangui, 23 January 2008). A new wave of internal displacement in the Central African Republic’s northern region has prompted the opening of the first camp for internally displaced people in the country. These recent population movements are a result of an increase in violence perpetrated by zaraguinas, or bandits. Continue Reading »

(OCHA, New York, 14 September 2007): The entire population of some 12,000 people has now fled from their homes in the area between the towns of Markounda and Silambi, in the north of the Central African Republic (CAR) on the border with neighbouring Chad, according to the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for CAR, Toby Lanzer.

For months, civilians have been caught between various armed factions, including state and non-state actors from CAR and Chad. In late August, reports from the region made it clear that, following a particularly acute period of violence, the population had escaped into the bush. A United Nations mission, led by Mr. Lanzer, traveled to the Markounda-Silambi axis in the Ouham prefecture 500 kilometres or twelve hours north of the capital, Bangui, from 7 to 10 September. Continue Reading »

Below a small brief on the security situation in the first half of 2007, taken from the Mid-Year Review of aid operations in CAR.

This is a good first introduction to the rebellion in the north and other security problems in the Central African Republic.

For more info, please read the full Mid-Year Review of our Coordinated Aid Programme.

In late 2006 and early 2007, the UFDR militant group rose to prominence in the northeast of the CAR. Conflict has since spread from Birao to the town of Mouka in the south, and to Ndélé in the west. As a result, a rising number of civilians have been displaced. The villages of Ouanda- Djallé, Gordil and Tiringoulou were particularly badly affected by the violence. Continue Reading »

More than 2,600 refugees have arrived in Sam Ouandja, in the extreme north-east of the Central African Republic, since late May this year.

The organizations providing humanitarian assistance to these refugees and the population of Sam Ouandja have now put together a briefing kit, with updates on the situation and their activities.

For photos please see our photo sets.

Download the document here

August Briefing Kit | Darfur refugees in CAR | HDPT CAR | English

August Briefing Kit | Darfur refugees in CAR | HDPT CAR | French

Or read the full text after the break. Continue Reading »

BBC’s Karen Allen produced a story on the violence in the north-west during her visit to CAR in July 2007. She met with the APRD rebels and concludes that “until there is a major economic push for the underdeveloped north, the unrest is likely to persist.”

Click here to read the full story.