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PGA’s vision is to contribute to the creation of a Rules-Based International Order for a more equitable, safe, sustainable and democratic world.

PGA expresses solidarity with the victims of the armed conflict in Central African Republic

Bangui/Stockholm/New York/The Hague

The electoral process that culminated in the Presidential and parliamentary elections in Central African Republic (CAR) on 27 December 2020 have been used by the four largest rebel groups, which had signed the peace-agreement of February 2019, to form a self-named (soi-disant) “Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC)”, which launched a series of attacks in multiple areas of the country. The CPC has been reportedly created in response to the Constitutional Court’s decision on the ineligibility in the Presidential elections of former dictator and President Mr. François Bozizé, due to the fact that he is a fugitive from justice since 2014, when he was indicted for crimes against humanity by a CAR competent Tribunal pursuant to the dictates of the law on international crimes supported by the PGA CAR National Group since 2010.

As DW reported on 13 January 2020[1], according to Dr. Peter Knoope, senior research associate at Dutch international relations institute “Clingendael”, the rebels have regretfully gained a certain momentum in the last years. Dr. Knoope believes the recent elections triggered an uptick in violence because the 2019 peace deal put armed groups in a powerful position. But they worried they would lose this power after the election. The peace agreement had been strongly criticized by PGA Members and human rights’ groups as it promoted the incorporation of well-known “war lords” in the CAR military, hence discouraging the investigation and prosecution of atrocity-crimes falling under the jurisdiction of the Special Criminal Court of Bangui set up to adjudicate on war crimes and crimes against humanity. 

By the date of the elections, media sources reported that approximately 40% of the electoral districts of the country had been attacked and occupied by the rebels, hence impeding the conduct of the elections on these territories.[2] The CPC continued its violent military campaign, in the face of which independent observers reported that the CAR Army failed to resist and derelict from its duties to protect the communities and populations. This serious institutional shortfall was harshly criticized by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), an independent think-tank based in South Africa, which has called into question the entire model of intervention employed by the International Community in Central African Republic in the last decade, pointing out to a specific deficiency of the internationally-supported Security Sector Reform.[3]

On 13 January, the rebels tried to attack the capital City of Bangui, but the joint operations of MINUSCA – a UN peacekeeping mission consisting of 12,000 troops, including Special Forces from Portugal – and CAR security forces halted the invasion of the Capital by the CPC. In response, international NGOs denounced the immense sufferings and losses caused to civilian victims and communities in CAR, which are at the serious risk of suffering a new humanitarian disaster generated by the conflict, particularly if protracted violence and occupation restricted humanitarian access and left vulnerable populations without essential aid.[4] The UN and other sources indicated that 30,000 people have fled to neighboring countries and more than 60,000 have been internally displaced.[5]

Against the backdrop of this dramatic situation, which occurs at a time of a global pandemic in a country that is largely forgotten by world leaders and public attention, the President of Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA), Ms. Margareta Cederfelt, MP (Sweden), stated:

The entire membership of PGA in 130 countries in all regions of the world strongly condemns the resumption of the armed conflict by rebel groups in CAR and expresses all its solidarity and support for the victims of this renewed wave of violence, namely the entire civilian population of CAR and, in particular, the communities living in the large areas occupied by rebel groups.

PGA calls upon all the relevant actors in the International Community, starting with the UN peacekeeping operation MINUSCA and the African Union, to address the root causes of the reckless resumption of violence in CAR aimed at disrupting the electoral process and unlawfully seizing power also for the purpose of exploiting the country’s natural resources, namely by:

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