Christian Militants are Killing Muslims in Central Africa Republic

International peacekeepers have failed to prevent the ethnic cleansing of Muslim civilians in the western part of the Central African Republic, Amnesty International said in a report issued today.

To protect the country’s remaining Muslim communities, international peacekeeping forces must break the control of anti-balaka militias and station sufficient troops in towns where Muslims are threatened.
“Anti-balaka militias are carrying out violent attacks in an effort to ethnically cleanse Muslims in the Central African Republic,” said Joanne Mariner, senior crisis response adviser at Amnesty International.

“The result is a Muslim exodus of historic proportions.”

Amnesty International criticized the international community’s tepid response to the crisis, noting that international peacekeeping troops have been reluctant to challenge anti-balaka militias, and slow to protect the threatened Muslim minority.

“International peacekeeping troops have failed to stop the violence,” said Donatella Rovera, senior crisis response adviser at Amnesty International.

“They have acquiesced to violence in some cases by allowing abusive anti-balaka militias to fill the power vacuum created by the Seleka’s departure.”

In recent weeks, Amnesty International has taken over 100 first-hand testimonies of large-scale anti-balaka attacks on Muslim civilians in CAR's northwest towns of Bouali, Boyali, Bossembele, Bossemptele, and Baoro. International troops had failed to deploy to these towns leaving civilian communities without protection.

The most lethal attack documented by Amnesty International took place on 18 January in Bossemptele, where at least 100 Muslims were killed. Among the dead were women and old men, including an imam in his mid-70s.

To escape the anti-balaka’s deadly attacks, the entire Muslim populace has fled from numerous towns and villages while in others, the few who remain have taken refuge in and around churches and mosques.

International concern over the sectarian nature of the violence in the CAR led the UN Security Council in December 2013 to authorize the deployment of peacekeeping forces to the country. Those forces—comprised of about 5,500 African Union troops, known as MISCA, and 1,600 French troops, known as “Sangaris”—have been deployed within Bangui and to several towns north and southwest of the capital.

Even in the PK 5 neighbourhood at the centre of Bangui's Muslim community, thousands of frightened people are packing up and leaving home.

The journey to safety is difficult and dangerous. Convoys are frequently attacked by anti-balaka militia. A small boy called Abdul Rahman told Amnesty International how, on 14 January, the truck he was travelling on was stopped at an anti-balaka checkpoint. They demanded that all the Muslim passengers get off. Six members of his family were then killed: three women and three small children, including a toddler.

Is the Central African Republic at breaking point?

After several weeks of bloody violence in Bangui, hundreds of thousands of people have now been displaced. Although the city is patrolled by French and African peacekeeping forces, the situation is still not under control. Our reporters on the ground witnessed the daily clashes and met the Christian and Muslim communities who now live in fear of each other.
The situation in the Central African Republic is extremely complex; many different forces are involved. In March 2013 the Seleka rebels toppled the former president François Bozizé and replaced him with Michel Djotodia.

The Seleka are mainly Muslims. After they came to power they carried out atrocities, and this led to the creation of self-defence groups called the anti-Balaka. Throughout December there were many clashes between the anti-Balaka and the former Seleka rebels. Last month more than one thousand people are believed to have been killed.

Another problem comes from the presence of different international forces in the country. The UN-mandated African force MISCA has nearly 4,000 troops. Among them are the Burundians, who last month accused the Chadians of having opened fire on them. Chad denies this.

In the Muslim districts many feel that the French forces (1,600 men) disarm the Seleka but not the anti-Balaka; France rejects the allegation. And in the Christian areas residents say Chadian forces are siding with the Seleka.

All the fighting has led to a dire humanitarian situation. Some 800,000 people have fled their homes, half of them in Bangui. In the capital, the largest camp is around the airport where 100,000 residents now live under tarpaulins, with no running water. One of the few NGOs there, Doctors Without Borders (MSF), said Thursday it was reducing its activities at the camp because of the violence in the area. MSF says there is an urgent need for more humanitarian aid. The most shocking aspect, they said, is that this camp is not isolated in the jungle, but beside the airport of an African capital. (Text by Nicolas Germain)