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MundoÁfrica,

The Central African Republic is about to explode, threatening a wide swath of northern Africa, but why should we care, especially as South Sudan teeters on the brink of ethnic warfare?

Unless that nation can be quickly brought back from the verge of civil war, Islamic fundamentalists will wipe out or marginalize the Christian population in another ghastly civil war, such as in Syria, though along different religious fault lines. Already, in the Central African Republic, thousands of Christians displaced by the killing sprees have fled their villages and are spread out around the airport in the capital city of Bangui, with little or no support.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoÁfrica,

As many participate in religious celebrations at this time of the year, our country, the Central African Republic, remains on the brink of religious warfare. In a place that most of the world struggles to find on a map, more than 2 million people, nearly half of the nation’s population, are in desperate need of aid. As we write, approximately 40,000 people without shelter or toilets are crammed into the airport compound in the capital, Bangui. In just the past week in Bangui, hundreds have been killed, including patients dragged out of hospitals and executed. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said that he is “gravely concerned about the imminent danger of mass atrocities.”…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoÁfrica,

When France decided to send soldiers to the Central African Republic on Nov. 26, it did the right thing for the wrong reason.

France, the United Nations and the African Union dispatched some 4,000 troops soon after the French foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, warned that the C.A.R. was “on the verge of genocide.” Yet the country doesn’t face genocide; it is experiencing state collapse and limited intercommunal killings after a military takeover by a coalition of undisciplined militiamen known as Seleka.

Last week, flying home from the memorial service for Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg, President François Hollande of France stopped in Bangui, C.A.R.’s…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoÁfrica,

INTRODUCCIÓN

El 7 de abril de 2013 se publicaba en este mismo observatorio un documento de opinión sobre el conflicto en la República Centroafricana (RCA en lo sucesivo). Dado el desarrollo de los acontecimientos se ha considerado oportuno realizar una actualización. En las conclusiones del mencionado documento se hacía alusión a la escasa atención de la comunidad internacional a los problemas de este país, a pesar de las “grandilocuentes palabras de condena ante las vulneraciones de los derechos humanos en algunas zonas del planeta, como es el caso de la República Centroafricana”. Del mismo modo se decía que: “No es de extrañar que el fundamentalismo islámico también comience a expandirse en esta zona de mayoría cristiana.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoÁfrica,

Col. Saleh Zabadi, a commander of the alliance of rebel forces that seized control of much of this country in March, is widely feared for his ruthlessness.

I recently sat down with three men who had barely survived an encounter with him. They were among seven Christian men captured by fighters from the rebel alliance, which is mostly Muslim, on Nov. 18 while returning from selling produce at a market outside of the town of Bossangoa.

Tied up and beaten, the men were brought to Colonel Zabadi and his commander, Gen. Issa Yahya (who died last week in fighting in Bangui, the capital).…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoÁfrica, ,

No matter how often one interviews victims of human rights abuses, there are times when people’s images stay with you.

This month, in northern Central African Republic, I met an elderly Muslim herder who described in painful detail how a militia member slit the throat of each of his 11 children and grandchildren, ages 6 months to 25 years, before also killing his two wives. He struggled with tears while trying to spell the long list of names. He had lost everything.
On the steps of a church that has become the center of a squalid camp of more than 35,000 people seeking refuge from violence, a young woman was trying to nurse an infant who had been struck in the arm by a bullet that killed the woman’s husband.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoÁfrica, ,

La salle d’audience du palais de justice de la ville de Bambari n’a ni portes ni fenêtres. Le siège du juge, les tables et les chaises ont tous disparu, pillés. Le sol est jonché de papiers - des restes d’archives et de registres publics. J’ai ramassé quelques feuillets éparpillés ; certains documents dataient de l’époque coloniale. Le système judiciaire de la République centrafricaine ressemble aujourd’hui à cette salle d’audience. En dehors de la capitale, Bangui, il n’y a ni police, ni procureurs, ni juges, mais les forces de la coalition Séléka, qui ont pris le contrôle du pays en mars (1), et qui sont présentes, partout.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoÁfrica,

The West is focused on the conflict in Mali these days, but there has also been fighting in the Central African Republic. A rebel takeover of Bangui, the capital, was narrowly averted by emergency peace talks last week.

This war may not seem as alarming as Mali’s, but it is worth noting for another reason: The C.A.R. has long been a laboratory for international peace-building initiatives, and they have failed again. The latest negotiations, held in Gabon, were the fourth major round of talks since 2002. In fact, the latest fighting was led by Seleka, a coalition of rebel groups most of which had previously signed peace agreements, and it grew out of the failures of earlier international efforts.…  Seguir leyendo »