República Centroafricana (Continuación)

MundoÁfrica,

I have had many unforgettable welcome receptions at airports around the world. But nothing could have prepared me for my arrival last week in Bangui, the capital city of the Central African Republic.

More than 70,000 people are crammed in horrendous conditions on the airport grounds. The lucky ones are living under weather-beaten tarps just yards from the runway. Others sleep in the open.

While they may have the protection of international troops, they are exposed to disease, malnutrition and untold horrors beyond the gates. Food is scarce. Malaria could spread. The rainy season will only multiply the problems.

Women and men shared horrific accounts of gang rapes, extortion and brutality.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoÁfrica, ,

When Lieutenant General Roméo Dallaire, the former UN force commander in Rwanda and now a Canadian senator, calls once again for urgent action to protect civilians at risk in an impoverished African country, one would expect the whole world to listen, particularly on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide. You just could not divorce, he said, what is happening in the Central African Republic with what happened in Rwanda in 1994. "We've actually established a damn pecking order and the sub-Saharan black African – yes we're interested but it just doesn't count enough to spill our blood, to get embroiled in something complex that will need longer-term stability and influence," says Dallaire.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoÁfrica

Halima, a 25-year-old Muslim, could not hold back tears when we met again recently in Bossemptele, about 185 miles north of Bangui, in the Central African Republic. She was living under the protection of the Catholic Church, after the anti-balaka militia slaughtered more than 80 Muslims in Bossemptele.

For the past six months, such militias have sought to avenge the devastation wrought by the predominantly Muslim Seleka rebel group, which took power last March in this majority-Christian country.

When we first spoke, two days earlier, Halima said that her husband and father-in-law were among the dead and that she had not heard from her three children since they had run away from the killers.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoÁfricaInternacionalSalud Pública, , ,

Demasiadas enfermedades prevenibles, que van desde el SIDA hasta la fiebre amarilla, han afectado desde hace ya mucho tiempo atrás al África subsahariana. No obstante, para erradicarlas se requiere de una comprensión de la enfermedad en cuestión, de dinero, educación, apoyo gubernamental, planificación, y, finalmente pero no por ello es menos importante, se requiere que la comunidad y el mundo en general tengan interés en la solución del problema.

Considere la posibilidad de una enfermedad prevenible, sobre la cual la mayoría de las personas no ha oído hablar nunca antes: Konzo, un trastorno de la neurona motora superior que es irreversible y permanente, un trastorno común en las zonas rurales de África subsahariana cuya alimentación básica depende de una variedad amarga de la planta de yuca.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoÁfrica

Les discours en faveur d’une intervention militaire en Centrafrique ont invoqué, dans une grande confusion, des enjeux humanitaires et sécuritaires. Les deux grilles de lecture fréquemment appliquées au conflit – celles du génocide et du vide sécuritaire – ne sont pas seulement erronées ou incomplètes : elles ont également des effets dangereux. Les expressions « génocide » et situation « pré-génocidaire » ont été avancées par les diplomaties française et américaine peu de temps avant l’adoption de la résolution du Conseil de sécurité autorisant le déploiement de la mission « Sangaris » en décembre 2013. Plus récemment, le directeur des opérations humanitaires de l’ONU, John Ging, a affirmé que tous les « éléments » d’un « génocide » étaient réunis, en établissant une comparaison avec le Rwanda et la Bosnie, tandis que l’ambassadrice américaine à l’ONU, Samantha Power, a parlé de « risques de génocide ».…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoÁfrica

Alors que le ministre de la Défense, Jean-Yves Le Drian, se rend ce jour en République centrafricaine, malgré la présence de forces armées internationales, combats et représailles intercommunautaires continuent à faire de nombreux morts, blessés et déplacés, en particulier dans l’ouest du pays. Nous assistons à un exode massif des populations musulmanes, départs organisés ou spontanés vers le nord-est du pays, le Tchad ou le Cameroun. Plusieurs dizaines de milliers de personnes, issues d’une communauté minoritaire, paient collectivement le prix des exactions commises par les combattants ex-Sélékas après leur arrivée au pouvoir, en mars 2013. Cette éviction, par la peur ou le massacre, est mise en œuvre par des milices parfois décidées à «finir le travail».…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoÁfricaEuropaUnión Europea,

For food, fashion and fast trains, few labels are more sought after, and rightly so, than "Made in France." But when it comes to the making and unmaking of empires, not so much. Take the case of the Central African Republic.

Three weeks ago, as bloody mayhem engulfed the CAR, François Hollande did what French presidents do best: He sent in the paratroops. With the blessing, and precious little else, of his European neighbors, Hollande declared his intention to protect 100 or so French nationals in Bangui, the capital, and to disarm both the outlawed Seleka fighters, overwhelmingly Muslim, and the vigilante anti-balaka (or "machete") militias, which are Christian.…  Seguir leyendo »

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,

Demain, une opération de paix de l’Union africaine, la Mission internationale de soutien à la Centrafrique (Misca), prend le relais d’une mission régionale (Micopax). La Misca est la 10e opération de paix déployée en République centrafricaine (RCA) depuis 1997. Toutes les autres ont échoué à rétablir la paix. Les opérations de paix sont conçues comme des actions visant à contenir la violence et à créer un environnement politique et sécuritaire devant permettre le rétablissement de la paix et, parfois, la reconstruction. Ces interventions n’en soulèvent pas moins de nombreux défis pour les acteurs régionaux et internationaux, particulièrement en Afrique où les Etats et les organisations régionales ne possèdent pas les capacités - logistiques, financières, humaines et institutionnelles - requises pour mener des opérations de paix de moyenne ou de longue durée et de grande envergure de façon autonome.…  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

The Central African Republic is often called a forgotten country, but that isn’t quite right. It has had a long and substantial international presence and sizable foreign investment. It’s just that those efforts haven’t made much difference. As the country rapidly descends into greater violence, the difficult truth is that more — and much better — international and regional involvement is its only hope.

France has had an almost continuous military presence since the country gained independence in 1960, including the 400 soldiers deployed at the start of the current crisis. The European Union has a delegation in Bangui and has been the main donor for 10 years.…  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 »