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central african republic
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89 total results foundAuthor: Vinck, Patrick Title: Building Peace, Seeking Justice: A Population-Based Survey on Attitudes About Accountability and Social Reconstruction in the Central African Republic Summary: Decades of political instability, state fragility, mismanagement, and a series of armed conflicts have led the Central African Republic (CAR) to a state of widespread violence and poverty. This study provides a better understanding of the scope and magnitude of violence in CAR and its consequences, as well as a snapshot of what the citizens of CAR believe is the best way to restore peace. It also examines the issue of justice and accountability for the serious crimes that were committed. This report provides the findings from a survey of 1,879 adults, residents of CAR, randomly selected in the capital city of Bangui, and the prefectures of Lobaye, Ombella M’Poko, Ouham, and Ouham Pende. These prefectures encompass a large geographic area representing 52 percent of the total population of CAR and have experienced varying levels of exposure to the conflicts. Locally trained teams conducted the interviews between November and December 2009. This report provides a detailed analysis of results on a wide range of topics related to the population’s priorities and needs, exposure to violence, security, community cohesion and engagement, access to information, conflict resolution, reintegration of former combatants, transitional justice, and reparations for victims. Details: Berkeley, CA: Human Rights Center, University of California, Berkeley, 2010. 41p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2010 Country: Central African Republic Keywords: Human Rights Shelf Number: 119520 |
Author: Title: Dangerous Little Stones: Diamonds in the Central African Republic Summary: In the diamond mines of the Central African Republic (CAR), extreme poverty and armed conflict put thousands of lives in danger. President Franacois Boziza keeps tight control of the diamond sector to enrich and empower his own ethnic group but does little to alleviate the poverty that drives informal miners to dig in perilous conditions. Stringent export taxes incentivise smuggling that the mining authorities are too few and too corrupt to stop. These factors combined - a parasitic state, poverty and largely unchecked crime - over jealous factions to launch rebellions and enable armed groups to collect new recruits and profit from mining and selling diamonds illegally. To ensure diamonds fuel development not bloodshed, root and branch reform of the sector must become a core priority of the country's peacebuilding strategy. Nature scattered diamonds liberally over the CAR, but since colonial times foreign entrepreneurs and grasping regimes have benefited from the precious stones more than the Central African people. Mining companies have repeatedly tried to extract diamonds on an industrial scale and largely failed because the deposits are alluvial, spread thinly across two large river systems. Instead, an estimated 80,000-100,000 mostly unlicensed miners dig with picks and shovels for daily rations and the chance of striking it lucky. Middlemen, mostly West Africans, buy at meagre prices and sell at a profit to exporting companies. The government lacks both the institutional capacity to govern this dispersed, transient production chain and the will to invest diamond revenues in the long-term growth of mining communities. Chronic state fragility has ingrained in the political elite a winner-takes-all political culture and a preference for short-term gain. The French ransacked their colony of its natural resources, and successive rulers have treated power as licence to loot. Jean-Badel Bokassa, the CAR's one-time "emperor", created a monopoly on diamond exports, and his personal gifts to French President Giscard d'Estaing, intended to seal their friendship, became symbols of imperial excess. Ange-Falix Patassa saw nothing wrong in using his presidency to pursue business interests and openly ran his own diamond mining company. Boziza is more circumspect. His regime maintains tight control of mining revenues by means of a strict legal and fiscal framework and centralised, opaque management. Since Boziza came to power in 2003, industrial diamond mining companies have almost all left, in part because the authorities' high demands erode potential profits. Informal artisanal mining carries on apace, but the government's closure in 2008 of most diamond exporting companies - a ruse to better control the market - severely cut investment in the production chain, cost many miners their jobs and helped cause a spike in infant malnutrition. Expensive licences and corrupt mining police make it harder for miners to escape the poverty trap. A 12 per cent tax on diamond exports, the highest in the region, makes smuggling worthwhile and fosters illicit trading networks that deprive the state of much needed revenue. The government's refusal to distribute national wealth fairly has led jealous individuals and disenfranchised groups to take up arms for a bigger slice of the cake. The Union of Democratic Forces for Unity (Union des forces damocratiques pour le rassemblement, UFDR), more ethnic militia than rebel group, has signed a peace agreement but still mines diamonds in the north east and sells them on the black market. Poor miners joined its ranks to improve their lot, and though taking power is no longer a prospect, diamond profits are a strong incentive not to disarm. Meanwhile, the Convention of Patriots for Justice and Peace (Convention des patriotes pour la justice et la paix, CPJP), the most active rebellion, preys on miners and traders in the east. This insecurity, largely banditry under a rebel flag, severely restricts economic activity, inhibits the holding there of elections set for 23 January 2011 and puts civilian lives at great risk. Reform of the diamond sector is a crucial element, alongside wider governance and conflict resolution measures, for improving the living conditions of miners and their families, boosting the state's scant domestic revenues and helping break the cycle of armed conflict. The government needs first to improve governance of the mining sector, which is a question more of political will than capacity. Only when Boziza has shown commitment to instituting more democratic control of mining revenues and enhancing transparency in management processes should international partners support mining authorities in the capital and mining zones. The reform strategy should prioritise artisanal above industrial mining, which has less direct impact on mining communities, aim to reduce incentives for smuggling and tighten controls to stop armed groups profiting from diamonds. Details: Brussels: International Crisis Group, 2010. 31p. Source: Internet Resource: Africa Report No. 167: Accessed December 20, 2010 at: http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/africa/central-africa/central-african-republic/167%20Dangerous%20Little%20Stones%20-%20Diamonds%20in%20the%20Central%20African%20Republic.ashx Year: 2010 Country: Central African Republic Keywords: Corruption Shelf Number: 120551 |
Author: Amnesty International Title: Central African Republic: Action Needed to End Decades of Abuse Summary: The human rights situation in Central African Republic (CAR) is dire. Ravaged by a conflict involving a myriad of groups, the CAR is a volatile and unstable country. Innumerable human rights abuses, some of which may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, continue to be committed by the various parties in the conflict-ridden country. The civilian population bears the brunt of the abuses, which include unlawful killings, enforced disappearances, abductions, torture, destruction and burning of houses, and sexual violence, including rape. Tens of thousands of Central Africans have been forced to flee to neighbouring countries, and several hundred thousand civilians are internally displaced in the CAR. The CAR government must step up measures to ensure that the root causes of the conflict in the country are addressed and that the rights of the people are respected. In support of the CAR, the African Union must spearhead efforts to ensure that the conflict, which continues to bring untold suffering to civilians, is resolved and that coordinated efforts to protect civilians from human rights abuses are enhanced. Grave human rights violations, including possible war crimes and crimes against humanity, continue to be committed in the CAR by the various armed groups. Only one person has been put on trial for these crimes at the International Criminal Court. The government has shown itself to be incapable or unwilling to take action to uphold and protect human rights. The police, prosecutors and investigating judges are unable, and it appears sometimes unwilling, to investigate and prosecute people who have committed these acts. Abuses that may amount to crimes under international law continue to be perpetrated in the CAR with impunity, despite the fact that they are defined and criminalized in the new Penal Code, which came into force in January 2010. The other reasons include the fact that CAR is unstable, has a malfunctioning criminal justice system, has ill-equipped, ill-disciplined, poorly trained security forces, and has tenuous control over most of the country. The referral of the situation in CAR to the International Criminal Court has resulted in just one arrest – of a foreign national now on trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity in 2002-3. No other arrest warrants have been issued. Although many of the armed groups have claimed that they have taken up arms to protect their people from government forces, they themselves have committed crimes and perpetrated abuses against civilians, especially those they accuse of supporting the government. Details: London: Amnesty International, 2011. 42p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 25, 2011 at: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/AFR19/001/2011/en/3a61a8a4-cf37-4d59-a09e-39b77c70957f/afr190012011en.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Central African Republic Keywords: Human Rights Abuses Shelf Number: 123146 |
Author: Neale, Ezra Title: Elephant Meat Trade in Central Africa: Central African Republic Case Study Summary: The unsustainable trade of wild meat (‘bushmeat’) has placed significant pressures on populations of wild animals and is recognized by conservationists as a main threat to the preservation of regional biodiversity (Wilkie & Carpenter, 1999; Nasi, et al., 2008). In Central Africa, the African forest elephant (Loxodonta africana cyclotis) has been widely hunted for its tusks and more recently for its meat, threatening its future survival (Blake, et al., 2007). This pilot study was instigated by the Monitoring of Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) programme of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and is being implemented by the IUCN African Elephant Specialist Group (AfESG). It seeks to explore the many causes and motivations driving the illegal killing of elephants, particularly the trade and commerce of elephant meat and ivory. This pilot study aims to lay the groundwork for a long-term study that will explore the meat and ivory trade around the Dzanga Sangha Complex (DSC) in the Central African Republic (CAR). This study was a preliminary survey aimed at laying the groundwork for future long-term work on the impact of elephant meat and ivory trade on illegal elephant killing. The study focused on engaging local stakeholders to build awareness of the goals and objectives of the pilot study, selecting study sites that had high potential to yield useful information, developing and testing data collection tools with research assistants (RAs), and formulating recommendations regarding how best to carry out a long-term study in the Dzanga Sangha Complex MIKE monitoring site. The objectives were to: • establish institutional support and working relationships with cooperating governmental and international and national organizations involved in biodiversity conservation in CAR; • identify international consultants, national experts, technical advisors and field assistants that could contribute usefully to project goals; • test the draft methodology developed by IUCN/SSC AfESG under field conditions with a view to refining the methods and data variables in order to produce improved results in future; • identify the priority data collection localities; • produce a set of quantitative and qualitative data that would present an initial depiction of the causes and circumstances of illegal elephant killing in the project sites; and • generate the information necessary to plan a well focused project, second phase, in which all of the parameters for successful research would be in place. Details: Gland, Switzerland: International Union for Conservation of Nature, 2011. 46p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 5, 2012 at: http://data.iucn.org/dbtw-wpd/edocs/SSC-OP-045-002.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Central African Republic Keywords: Bushmeat Shelf Number: 125467 |
Author: Agger, Kasper Title: Behind the Headlines: Drivers of Violence in the Central African Republic Summary: The situation in the Central African Republic, or CAR, remains chaotic and violent with public lynchings and daily attacks terrorizing civilians across the country. The United Nations estimates that more than 1 million people - roughly one-quarter of the total population - have been displaced or fled the country. Thousands of people have been killed - at least 2,000 since December alone, although no one knows the exact figure, which is likely much higher. Despite having the largest number of peacekeepers ever deployed to the country, the violence in CAR continues unabated. At least 60 people were killed in the capital city of Bangui over a period of just 10 days in March. Armed groups in CAR are financing their activities in part with significant revenues from natural resources and looting. When the Seleka rebel alliance captured the capital in March 2013, heavily armed and well-trained wildlife poachers and mercenary fighters from Chad and Sudan - some of whom were members of the Sudanese government-supported Janjaweed militia-backed the group. Seleka rebels and foreign fighters have been plundering, looting, and smuggling diamonds and ivory to pay for arms, fuel, food, and soldiers. Meanwhile, Anti-Balaka militias have been looting and killing in Muslim communities and have taken control of diamond-rich areas in the western part of CAR. Seleka forces used violence and threats against local populations in CAR to extract diamond revenues through forced mining, theft, and cheap purchases from local traders. The diamonds were then sold to local traders or taken out of the country and sold to intermediaries, mainly in South Darfur, Cameroon, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, or DRC. CAR was suspended in May 2013 from the Kimberley Process, an international certification mechanism designed to prevent conflict diamonds from entering the international market. However, the diamond trade has continued in CAR and conflict diamonds are likely entering markets abroad. Other countries have pursued political and economic interests that have exacerbated violence in CAR and destabilized the country. Neighboring Chad and Sudan provided support to the Seleka with the goal of installing a cooperative government that could help protect Chadian oil interests and prevent CAR from becoming a safe haven for rebels that could potentially destabilize the two countries. South Africa deployed up to 400 soldiers to protect South African investments in the oil and diamond sectors when former President Francois Bozize was in office. South African soldiers fought to protect the Bozize government when Seleka fighters attacked Bangui, leading to the death of 13 South African soldiers. The Chadian and French governments, which also sent soldiers to CAR, did not intervene to save President Bozize, as they had done previously in his decade-long rule. They helped him to capture power in 2003 but gradually withdrew support when he favored South Africa and China for trade and military cooperation arrangements. Bozize's shift, and that of France and Chad, helped enable Seleka forces to capture power. Details: Washington, DC: Enough Project, 2014. 27p. Source: Internet Resource: accessed May 17, 2014 at: http://www.enoughproject.org/files/CAR%20Report%20-%20Behind%20the%20Headlines%205.1.14.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Central African Republic Keywords: Animal Poaching Shelf Number: 132386 |
Author: Global Witness Title: Blood Timber: How Europe Held Fund War in the Central African Republic Summary: In 2013, the Central African Republic was plunged into a conflict that has cost over 5,000 lives and displaced more than a million people. When the insurgent group Seleka seized power in a bloody coup d'etat, Seleka rebels were dispatched to the country's rainforests. Here they struck lucrative deals with logging companies that helped bankroll a fierce campaign of violence against the country's population. Our new investigation, Blood Timber, reveals how these logging companies have paid millions of euros into the hands of rebels guilty of mass murder, kidnappings, rapes and the forced recruitment of child soldiers. Global Witness is calling on the EU and its member states to cut all trade and aid links to CAR's logging industry, which continues to be a source of instability as the African country struggles to restore peace. Europe is complicit on three counts: - Trade: European companies are trading with CAR logging companies, which in 2013 alone paid over 3.4 million euros to rebels so that they could continue logging illegally, at scale and for significant profit. - Illegal imports: Europe is the premier destination for CAR wood, meaning EU member states are failing in their legal obligations to keep illicit timber off European markets. - Donor aid: France has paid millions of euros in development aid to CAR's logging companies, based on the flawed assumption that CAR's logging industry contributes to local development. The EU is also pursuing a timber trade agreement with CAR that further benefits its logging industry. The logging companies under investigation - IFB from France, SEFCA from Lebanon, and Vicwood from China - preside over an area of CAR rainforest over two hundred times the size of Paris, and together account for 99% of timber exports from the country. Global Witness investigations found that all three made frequent payments to Seleka rebels - as bribes, to pass roadblocks, for armed escort, and for the protection of their logging sites, including a single transaction of nearly 381,000 euros by SEFCA to the new Seleka government right after the coup. Details: London: Global Witness, 2015. 64p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 5, 2016 at: https://www.greenpeace.de/sites/www.greenpeace.de/files/publications/blood-timber-global-witness-20150715.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Central African Republic Keywords: Deforestation Shelf Number: 138951 |
Author: Agger, Kasper Title: Warlord Business: CAR's Violent Armed Groups and their Criminal Operations for Profit and Power Summary: The two main armed groups in the Central African Republic (CAR) - the ex-Seleka and the Anti-Balaka, along with their multiple factions - make millions of dollars in profits from illicit activities, which support their operations and create wealth for ruthless warlords and business owners. Killings, extortion, and other forms of violence are used to control areas with gold and diamonds throughout CAR, and the groups are deeply involved in this high-value trade in several ways. The two groups also generate income through illicit taxes and "protection money" from civilians, road travelers, businesses, local organizations, and state institutions. Ex-Seleka and Anti-Balaka groups profit from a large illicit minerals trade. They do this directly by the mining and theft of diamonds and gold that they then sell to middlemen. They also profit indirectly by looting, extortion, and predatory taxation of miners and traders. Research presented in this report estimates the total current value of the illicit diamond trade and taxation by armed groups in CAR to be between $3.87 and $5.8 million dollars annually, a sufficient amount in CAR to fund widespread military operations. The majority of the diamonds and the gold are smuggled out of CAR to neighboring countries - mainly Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Sudan - and then on to international markets; a lesser amount is sold on the local market within CAR. Some of the diamonds sold locally are purchased by three Central African diamond buying houses that currently have a total stock of diamonds worth close to $8 million. This domestic diamond trade is not prohibited by the Kimberley Process (KP) suspension of CAR's membership and the decision by KP members to refrain from sending or receiving diamond shipments from CAR that has been in effect since May 2013 and only restricts exports of rough Central African diamonds. Deliberations are, however, underway concerning the possibility of a partial lifting of the KP restrictions. There are concerns that the combination of an inadequate diamond tracing system in CAR and control by armed groups of diamond mines could result in conflict diamonds, which have provided financing for armed groups, entering the KP-approved diamond trade. To counter this danger, any lifting of CAR's KP diamond restrictions should be conditioned on the removal of all armed groups from mining sites, full control of diamond trading markets by U.N. peacekeepers or local gendarmes, and a credible tracing and due diligence system for diamonds bought and sold by Central African diamond companies, including those for export. In addition to natural resource exploitation, ex-Seleka factions in particular have set up efficient tax collection practices. Conservative assessments estimate that different factions within the group collect $1.5 to $2 million annually from illicit road taxation throughout the areas they control in central and eastern CAR. They gain an additional estimated $210,000 to $420,000 in taxation of cattle traders and $200,000 to $240,000 from taxation of coffee traders. Meanwhile, Anti-Balaka groups that roam western CAR collect illicit road taxes, extort money from rural villages, and demand sums that range from $600 to $1,000 as a one-time payment for "protection." Additional research is needed to estimate the total annual profits collected by Anti-Balaka groups through road taxation, looting, and other abusive activities. Details: Washington, DC: Enough Project, 2015. 32p. Source: Internet Resource: The Political Economy of African Wars: No. 2: Accessed June 7, 2016 at: http://www.enoughproject.org/files/Warlord%20Business%20061615.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Central African Republic Keywords: Diamonds Shelf Number: 139294 |
Author: Day, Christopher Title: The Bangui Carousel: How the recycling of political elites reinforces instability and violence in the Central African Republic Summary: The successful February 2016 election of President Faustin Archange Touadera marks a new beginning for the Central African Republic (CAR) and provides hope that the country is now stabilizing after three years of violence and political transition. Touadera has been endorsed by many of his political opponents, and the country remained largely peaceful in the weeks following the elections. But CAR is still a long way from political stability. If policymakers fail to address the structural issues that led to the crisis in CAR, the country is likely to repeat its violent past. Sworn in on March 30, Touadera, a former math teacher and prime minister, faces massive challenges. Armed groups and criminal gangs continue to destabilize the countryside, controlling valuable mining areas and commercial towns where they extort illicit taxes and trade diamonds and gold. More than 2 million people, or half of the country's population, are experiencing hunger; close to 415,000 people remain internally displaced, and 467,000 refugees are only slowly trickling back. Thousands of people have been killed since the March 2013 military coup by the Seleka alliance and the violence that followed. CAR has endured persistent violence and instability for decades. Institutional weakness, poverty, and exclusion do much to explain the country's history of disorder. But by significant measure, it is also the deliberate maintenance of such weakness by a small political elite that is at the root of CAR's endemic kleptocracy, a source of political instability, and a driver of violence in the country. Whether ushered in by coup or popular election, successive governments have proved unable to bring about meaningful change in CAR, in part because of the pattern of appointing many of the same people - often relatives and personal friends - to senior government offices. In sum, successive rulers in CAR have maintained authority largely by centralizing control where possible, and extended personal rule by dispensing patronage in return for political support, in particular by personally appointing to senior posts those who served in previous governments or trusted family members. This system has fostered division between the capital and the countryside, incubated the grievances of armed groups, and above all, created significant incentives to hijack the state through violence. This occurs as groups have competed for control of the state to access resources and privileges, instead of to benefit Central Africans. This elite recycling is a key component of what we present here as the "Bangui Carousel" to reflect the many people who rotate through the country's regimes, time and again. This pattern of elite recycling, which is not per se unique to CAR, is more critical in this country than elsewhere because it is interwoven with a near-complete lack of governance. There are few effective state or local government institutions, making the role and impact of the recycled individual leaders that much more potent. Unfortunately, it has been the complete dismantling of institutional checks and balances, the weakening of political parties and civil society organizations, and the use of violence to suppress opposition that have been the hallmark of many of these leaders. This combination of elite recycling on top of a governmental and civic system with little to no capacity and that often reinforces its hold on power through violence defines the Bangui Carousel. It is at the heart of what passes for Central African governance. The recycling and maintenance of a small group of elites - regardless of leadership at the top - combined with the absence of effective state institutions is a fundamental feature of government in CAR. Understanding this matters most to address the structural roots of the country's persistent instability and eventually stop the Bangui Carousel from spinning, so that government can bring about the change the country desperately needs. The recycling of elites is present throughout much of CAR's modern history. To illustrate patterns of elite recycling, the report focuses on appointments to government ministries since early 2013. To gather information and supplement field research, the authors analyzed hundreds of presidential decrees, 15 of which provided information about government reorganizations ordered by former Presidents Francois Bozize, Michel Djotodia, and Catherine Samba-Panza. This was then used to develop an overview of the members in each government and their inter-connections. The report then focuses on some of the individuals who have participated in or benefited from the Bangui Carousel. Those in the report were selected for different reasons: their affiliations with different armed groups, their mere affiliation with past regimes, potential connections to corruption, or their family ties, each of which tends to undermine the possibility of good governance. The analysis has been done with the objective to understand how groups and individuals get access to the Bangui Carousel and how they often benefit from their political appointments at the expense of CAR's citizens or simply forfeit the government's ability to earn the public's trust. Reference to any particular individual in this report does not, in and of itself, mean the individual is responsible for the violence or corruption that typically flows from the Bangui Carousel system. Rather, we highlight these individuals simply to demonstrate how the elite recycling element of the Bangui Carousel has worked. Subsequent reports will examine the governance elements in more detail, as well as the role of foreign powers, such as France and Chad, in perpetuating the system. To disrupt, and eventually, stop the entirety of the Carousel, accountability and effective governance must exist in CAR. And in place of the Carousel, a system of principled governance and greater merit-based criteria for appointments responsive to the needs of ordinary Central Africans must be established. A way forward to accomplish this in part is addressed in a series of recommendations. Details: Washington, DC: Enough Project, 2016. 21p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 3, 2016 at: http://www.enoughproject.org/reports/bangui-carousel-how-recycling-political-elites-reinforces-instability-and-violence-central-a Year: 2016 Country: Central African Republic Keywords: Gang Violence Shelf Number: 140150 |
Author: Southward, Fiona Title: Diamonds in the Central African Republic Summary: Since May 2013 the Central African Republic has been suspended from the Kimberly Process (KP) - a measure maintained by the mechanism's annual plenary in Guangzhou, China, this November. The CAR's transitional authorities have been seeking at least a partial lifting of this export ban so that the country might benefit from the much needed revenues its diamonds can generate. However, the authorities in this beleaguered state have thus far failed to secure control over both the security situation and the country's diamond trade: a recent UN expert report estimates that the CAR has lost US$24 million worth of diamonds to smuggling since May 2013. Indeed, IPIS' own investigations - the findings of which are outlined in a report released end November 2014 have found that large tracts of diamond producing areas in eastern CAR remain under ex-Seleka control, with stones continuing to access international markets. This IPIS Insight will elaborate on IPIS' findings in its recent report, Mapping Conflict Motives: the Central African Republic - the latest in our conflict mapping series. It gives some insight into the modes of exploitation used by armed groups in the CAR to profit from diamonds and the role these stones have played in the complex and shifting dynamics that characterise the on-going crisis, both in the east and west of the country. It will then briefly consider the KP's role in this context. Details: Antwerpen: IPIS, 2014. 13p. Source: Internet Resource: IPIS Insights: Accessed September 24, 2016 at: http://ipisresearch.be/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/20141222_Insight_diamonds1.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Central African Republic Keywords: Conflict Diamonds Shelf Number: 146111 |
Author: Mani, Kristina Title: Beyond the Pay: Current Illicit Activities of the Armed Forces in Central America Summary: The growth of criminal gangs and organized crime groups has created unprecedented challenges in Central America. Homicide rates are among the highest in the world, countries spend on average close to 10 percent of GDP to respond to the challenges of public insecurity, and the security forces are frequently overwhelmed and at times co-opted by the criminal groups they are increasingly tasked to counter. With some 90 percent of the 700 metric tons of cocaine trafficked from South America to the United States passing through Central America, the lure of aiding illegal traffickers through provision of arms, intelligence, or simply withholding or delaying the use of force is enormous. These conditions raise the question: to what extent are militaries in Central America compromised by illicit ties to criminal groups? The study focuses on three cases: Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Honduras. It finds that: - Although illicit ties between the military and criminal groups have grown in the last decade, militaries in these countries are not yet "lost" to criminal groups. - Supplying criminal groups with light arms from military stocks is typical and on the rise, but still not common. - In general the less exposed services, the navies and air forces, are the most reliable and effective ones in their roles in interdiction. - Of the three countries in the study, the Honduran military is the most worrying because it is embedded in a context where civilian corruption is extremely common, state institutions are notoriously weak, and the political system remains polarized and lacks the popular legitimacy and political will needed to make necessary reforms. - Overall, the armed forces in the three countries remain less compromised than civilian peers, particularly the police. However, in the worsening crime and insecurity context, there is a limited window of opportunity in which to introduce measures targeted toward the military, and such efforts can only succeed if opportunities for corruption in other sectors of the state, in particular in law enforcement and the justice system, are also addressed. Measures targeted toward the military should include: - Enhanced material benefits and professional education opportunities that open doors for soldiers in promising legitimate careers once they leave military service. - A clear system of rewards and punishments specifically designed to deter collusion with criminal groups. - More effective securing of military arsenals. - Skills and external oversight leveraged through combined operations, to build cooperation among those sectors of the military that have successful and clean records in countering criminal groups, and to expose weaker forces to effective best practices. Details: Miami: Western Hemisphere Security Analysis Center, Florida International University, 2011. 55p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 6, 2016 at: https://new.oberlin.edu/dotAsset/4690459.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Central African Republic Keywords: Drug Trafficking Shelf Number: 140538 |
Author: Hodgkinson, Chloe Title: Tourists, gorillas and guns: Integrating conservation and development in the Central African Republic Summary: Integrated conservation and development programs (ICDPs) are aimed at addressing both conservation and development issues through the involvement of local communities in the process of wildlife management. Typically this involves providing park-adjacent communities with conservation-related benefits to induce pro-conservation behaviour. The Dzanga-Sangha ICDP Project (DSP), southwest Central African Republic, has coordinated the management of a protected area complex since 1990. Its activities include traditional conservation measures such as antipoaching patrols, a developing gorilla tourism programme, and focused development activities. This study adopts an interdisciplinary approach to evaluate its efficacy at meeting both local development and conservation goals, with a strong focus on how these two areas interact. Evaluation of the DSPs impact on poverty alleviation in the reserve community suggests that the considerable opportunity costs caused by park formation largely fail to be compensated by the benefits provided. This effect is augmented by the high level of in-migration into the reserve. Examination of discrepancies between cost/benefit provision and recognition show that communitylevel benefits are particularly undervalued by local residents. Attitudinal surveys suggest benefit recognition to be strongly linked to pro-conservation attitudes. However, results from a 12-month market survey, a concurrent household consumption survey, participant observation and key informant interviews showed that conservation-related behaviour, in terms of both wild-food extraction and consumption, is largely unrelated to either benefit receipt or attitudes. Furthermore, evaluation of conservation efficacy suggested the main prey species are being hunted at unsustainable rates. This empirical study takes its place in a growing literature addressing not only the direct social and environmental implications of ICDPs but, crucially, the interactions between the two. It provides both applied management recommendations in addition to further contributing to our theoretical understanding of the dual development-conservation approach Details: London: University College London, 2009. 325p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed November 11, 2016 at: http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/15848/1/15848.pdf Year: 2009 Country: Central African Republic Keywords: Animal Poaching Shelf Number: 30121 |
Author: Human Rights Watch Title: No Class: When Armed Groups Use Schools in the Central African Republic Summary: After four years of conflict in the Central African Republic, many children are prevented from getting an education because armed groups have occupied, looted or damaged schools. The use of schools by armed groups, such as for barracks or bases, restricts children's right to education. The proximity of fighters to school grounds can also keep children from attending class. Based on interviews conducted in November 2016 and January 2017, No Class: When Armed Groups Use Schools in the Central African Republic documents how armed groups, and at times even the United Nations peacekeeping mission, have used and damaged schools to the detriment of the country's youth. As the conflict continues between rival Seleka factions, some allied with anti-balaka militias, in the central and eastern parts of the country, maintaining access to education is of vital importance. If they remain safe and protective environments, schools can provide a sense of normalcy that is crucial to a child’s development and psychological well-being. In June 2015, the Central African Republic endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration, which commits governments to protect schools from attack and military use. Now the government and UN mission should do more to ensure that schools are protected and that children get the education they want and deserve. Details: New York: HRW, 2017. 48p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 24, 2017 at: https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/report_pdf/car0317_web.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Central African Republic Keywords: Military Shelf Number: 144581 |
Author: Human Rights Watch Title: 'They Said We Are Their Slaves': Sexual Violence by Armed Groups in the Central African Republic Summary: During nearly five years of conflict, armed groups in the Central African Republic have committed widespread sexual violence and used rape and sexual slavery as a tactic of war. Based on interviews with nearly 300 survivors, "They Said We Are Their Slaves" illustrates how two main parties to the conflict, the Seleka and anti-balaka, have used sexual violence to punish women and girls, particularly along sectarian lines. The report also highlights the barriers that prohibit many survivors from accessing even basic medical and psychosocial care. In a country whose justice system has largely collapsed, survivors have little or no opportunity to seek redress. Most cases documented in this report are not only crimes under Central African law but constitute war crimes and may constitute crimes against humanity. Despite this, not a single member of an armed group is known to have been punished for rape or sexual assault. The Central African government, the United Nations, and international donors should urgently strengthen protection measures to reduce the risk of sexual violence, and ensure that survivors get timely access to medical, psychosocial, and legal services. And they should support domestic and international justice mechanisms-especially the newly created Special Criminal Court-to investigate and prosecute cases of conflict-related sexual violence that have life-altering consequences for so many of the country's women and girls Details: New York: HRW, 2017. 182p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 13, 2017 at: https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/report_pdf/car1017_web.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Central African Republic Keywords: Conflict-Related Violence Shelf Number: 147677 |
Author: UCLA School of Law, Williams Institute Title: "I don't know who can help": Men and boys facing sexual violence in Central African Republic Summary: Sexual violence against women and girls in the Central African Republic (CAR) has been described by the UN and international human rights organisations as a "weapon of war". Although it is acknowledged that men and boys have been among the victims of sexual violence, they have not been the focus of research or investigations. As a result, the scale and nature of sexual violence against males in CAR is little understood and men and boys have not been systematically factored in to protection strategies or into the design and implementation of responses for survivors. Research carried out in 2017 and early 2018 by All Survivors Project (ASP) sought to address this knowledge gap by exploring the extent of conflict-related sexual violence against males in CAR and the factors that contribute to male vulnerability there. Through reviews of existing literature, interviews with key informants and survivors and focus group discussions, ASP also assessed the adequacy of responses to sexual violence against men and boys with a view to identifying how these can be strengthened. While further research is needed to determine the prevalence of sexual violence against men and boys in CAR, ASP's findings point to a discernible pattern of male sexual victimisation that warrants urgent attention. ASP gathered data on multiple incidents, many of which took place during the past year. In Basse-Kotto prefecture, which has been the scene of fierce fighting between non-state armed groups throughout 2017, ASP recorded information on a possible 41 cases in which adult males were subjected to rape or other forms of sexual violence by members of non-state armed groups. ASP also documented 10 possible incidents of sexual violence against men and boys in or around the town of Kaga Bandoro in Nana-Grebizi prefecture in 2017 where there have also been high levels of armed violence between non-state groups fighting for control of the area. In Obo, the capital of Haut-Mbomou prefecture in the southeast of the country, an international provider of psychosocial support and other gender-based violence services reported having received 121 male survivors of sexual violence in its facilities in the town between January and October 2017. The cases consisted of 86 men and 35 boys, of whom 93 were abused by members of non-state armed groups, predominantly the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). Other humanitarian organisations with which ASP spoke reported lower numbers but are nevertheless regularly assisting men and boys who have been subjected to sexual violence by armed groups. Although it is possible that incidents of sexual violence involving men and boys have increased in the past year as insecurity spread to previously unaffected parts of the country, it is clear from secondary data that sexual violence against males is not a new phenomenon. Individual cases dating from 2003 onwards have been documented by UN investigations and human rights mapping exercises and by international human rights organisations. In addition, and despite efforts to stamp out sexual exploitation and abuse by UN peacekeepers, cases continue to be recorded in CAR. ASP's research points to specific circumstances in which men and boys may be more vulnerable to sexual violence and to some parallels with females in terms of patterns and profiles of victims and perpetrators. In the cases documented by ASP, sexual violence was most common during armed attacks or when men and boys were held captive by armed groups. There were also verified incidents in which men were subjected to sexual violence because they refused to join armed groups, as well as indications that boys associated with armed groups may be vulnerable to sexual violence while in the ranks. Details: Los Angeles: Williams Institute, 2018. 52p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 8, 2018 at: https://allsurvivorsproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/ASP-Central-African-Republic.pdf Year: 2018 Country: Central African Republic Keywords: Conflict-Related Violence Shelf Number: 151055 |
Author: The Sentry Title: Fear, Inc. War War Profiteering in the Central African Republic and the Bloody Rise of Abdoulaye Hissene Summary: Since 2013, the conflict in the Central African Republic (CAR) has repeatedly made international headlines, with alarms being raised over the escalating violence and even precursors to genocide in the country. Ethnic purges and other mass atrocities continue to take place on a near-daily basis against entire communities. A great, but unknown, number of civilians have died in the conflict and the instability has led to a major humanitarian crisis. In May 2018, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) announced that an unprecedented 1.27 million people have been internally displaced or forced to flee the country. Over the past 20 years, there have been a growing number of initiatives aimed at ending the CAR conflict, but these have had little impact. The country has seen a series of peace, disarmament and amnesty agreements; long-term UN peacekeeping missions and humanitarian assistance; foreign military operations; and elections. Billions of dollars have been spent in an attempt to restore stability and compensate for the lack of state control. Since 2014, the UN mission in CAR, also known as MINUSCA, has cost more than $3.2 billion. The European Union, a long-term and major development partner in CAR, has also disbursed nearly $200 million during the same period. Despite these efforts, the various mediation initiatives have failed to obtain a political compromise sufficient to manage the simple respect of a ceasefire. Today, there are multiple armed gangs, self-defense and politico military groups that control or exercise influence across the entire national territory. Worse yet, the perpetrators of atrocities are recognized by regional and international actors as legitimate political interlocutors with whom dialogue is necessary and peace must be negotiated. In August 2018 the African Union announced the end of a series of meetings with representatives of 14 armed groups to record their claims, even though some of the leaders have been placed under sanctions by the United Nations (UN) and the United-States (US). The African Union presented a list of more than 100 demands made by armed groups, including power sharing and amnesty. At the same time, a parallel dialogue was initiated by the Russian government, which invited to Khartoum the military leaders of the most violent armed groups active in the CAR conflict for almost a decade. Today, these so-called dialogues aimed at ending the deadly war have been captured by the agenda of perpetrators of mass atrocities who have shown no intention of making peace. Between 2016 and 2018, The Sentry investigated one such armed group representative, Abdoulaye Hissene, a notorious warlord involved in CAR's conflict for almost a decade. Formerly a diamond and gold trader, and since 2009 the leader of various politico-military groups, Hissene has been recognized as being responsible for an attempted coup in late 2015 and for targeted violence against UN and humanitarian staff. Since 2017, the United States, then followed by the full UN Security Council, have decided to impose sanctions through an asset freeze and travel ban. Chad announced it had implemented these sanctions, and the CAR government issued an international arrest warrant for him in 2016. Despite these measures and several attempts to arrest him, he remains a free man. The Sentry's investigation also reveals that Hissene has been successful building a profitable business and even since he has been under sanctions. He has amassed a fortune out of devastating sectarian violence. By inciting hatred and sowing divisions between ethnic and religious communities, he has gradually become a central player in the country's conflict. Hissene's rise has been possible thanks to strong ties he has developed over time with national and regional heads of state, their close allies, and with foreign business partners. In 2014, amid the ethnic cleansing of the Muslim population in CAR, Hissene enjoyed diplomatic status and traveled abroad, notably to Cameroon, the Republic of Congo, Chad, Kenya, United Arab Emirates, Switzerland, and France. During these travels, he expanded his list of partners and created lucrative business opportunities. At the end of 2014, after being fired from office and formally joining the armed opposition movement, he declared to the Chadian and Congolese heads of state that "what we want is to destroy everything to rebuild the country." He also convinced a Swiss oil company that he would be able to secure an oil contract with the Chadian national oil petroleum company. Acting as a "minister" and a leader of armed groups, and advertising his control of rich mining sites, Hissene has also developed an illicit trade in diamond and gold, particularly in Cameroon and in Kenya. Hissene's rise illustrates a violent system endemic in CAR, and similar to other countries in east and central Africa, that incentivizes conflict over peace. War profiteers and their allies hamper political and peace efforts, since conflict and state collapse are seen as lucrative business and smart politics. Sectarian violence is used as a political negotiation tool and actors who chose to pursue peace are largely kept out of negotiations. In this system, the greater the perpetrators of atrocities and their accomplices represent a threat to the central power, the more they will become essential political interlocutors and increase their financial gain. In 2015, the UN Security Council took a strong step when It decided to impose sanctions on a diamond company, Badica/Kardiam, accused of financing armed groups at the peak of the 2014 crisis. Despite this positive step, no other entities or businessmen faced any consequences for their role in the financing of the deadly conflict. By focusing on Hissene to illustrate war profiteering, this report calls for an in-depth reassessment of the strategy to support the emergence of CAR from its crisis. As long as violence is profitable for those behind the atrocities and their business networks both inside and outside the country, long-term peace in CAR and the rest of the Central African region will remain an illusion. It is time to send a strong signal to war profiteers so that their crimes will be less lucrative and bear increasingly costly consequences. Details: Washington, DC: The Sentry, 2018. 50p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 13, 2018 at: https://cdn.thesentry.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/FearInc_TheSentry_Nov2018-web.pdf Year: 2018 Country: Central African Republic Keywords: Gangs Shelf Number: 153409 |
Author: Dukhan, Nathalia Title: Splintered Warfare II: How Foreign Interference is Fueling Kleptocracy, Warlordism, and an Escalating Violent Crisis in the Central African Republic Summary: Five years after war broke out in the Central African Republic (CAR), the conflict has no end in sight. The country has become ungovernable over time and is sinking into a structural crisis. Despite being branded a low-intensity conflict, it is brutal and bloody. Entire communities are regularly targeted in carefully orchestrated military operations. Politico-military groups and various armed factions that effectively rule the country are held responsible for the chaos. Since 2014, the proliferation of these armed groups across the country has confirmed how deeply rooted politico-criminal entrepreneurship has become. In fact, it is now a booming business sector. In rural areas, these groups are the main source of employment for disillusioned youths. They also offer outlets for violent mercenaries from neighboring countries, especially Chad and Sudan. The proliferation of these groups, along with the transnational trafficking of weapons and natural resources, presents high stakes for the entire Central African region. Details: Washington, DC: George Washington University, 2018. 23p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 17, 2018 at: https://enoughproject.org/reports/splintered-warfare-ii-central-african-republic Year: 2018 Country: Central African Republic Keywords: Armed Groups Shelf Number: 153870 |
Author: Kodeih, Lea Title: ECPAT Panorama du Pays: Republique Centrafricaine (ECPAT Country Overview: Central African Republic) Summary: Desk review of existing information on the sexual exploitation of children (SEC) in the Central African Republic (CAR). The overview gathers existing publicly available information on sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism (SECTT), online child sexual exploitation (OCSE), trafficking of children for sexual purposes, sexual exploitation of children through prostitution, child early and forced marriage (CEFM) and identifies gaps, research needs, and recommendations. Details: Bangkok: ECPAT International, 2019. 32p. Source: Internet Resource (in French): Accessed May 20, 2019: https://www.ecpat.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Country-report-CAR.pdf Year: 2018 Country: Central African Republic Keywords: Central African Republic Shelf Number: 155933 |