CAR Central African Republic: Fragile, failed and forlorn

[davidbfpo]

A fascinating backgrounder on CAR, on land ownership - an issue I don't recall being mentioned before. Here is one passage:

Stare at the situation long enough and CAR’s problems can largely be whittled down to two issues: how the state hands out concessions and leases to individuals and corporations with vested interests; and how Bangui defines land that is “not put to proper use”—land that sits fallow or is not mined or logged quickly enough.

Link:http://gga.org/stories/editions/aif-...nciliation-1/?

[davidbfpo]

An update on CAR, which rightly explains the context for the communal violence, with 'human terrain' details and a far from optimistic passage indicates this will be another long-haul peacekeeping operation:

For that to happen, violence in the CAR must be brought under control. The U.N. peacekeeping mission, supported by French and European Union forces, will need to act forcefully to protect civilians, standing their ground when the Seleka or anti-balaka threaten civilians. They face a difficult task, with almost no local security forces with which to work. Former soldiers of the national army and local gendarmes have left their posts; many have joined the anti-balaka, whose top leadership is almost completely made up of former army and police commanders. But reorganizing and rearming the army is considered too risky a solution at the moment. Many Seleka soldiers want to join a newly constituted army, but their own horrific record of abuse and the hostility they are likely to face from the population means that integrating them will be difficult.

Link:http://foreignpolicy.com/2014/12/11/...a-anti-balaka/

[davidbfpo]

A profoundly depressing first-hand account of a journey through the CAR. The thread's title 'Fragile, failed and forlorn' hardly seems appropriate. Maybe now it should be No Hope Here?

Link:http://features.hrw.org/features/Unr...blic/index.php

[davidbfpo]

A senior (Swedish) United Nations aid worker has been suspended for disclosing to prosecutors an internal report on the sexual abuse of children by French peacekeeping troops in the Central African Republic. Sources close to the case said Anders Kompass passed the document to the French authorities because of the UN’s failure to take action to stop the abuse. The report documented the sexual exploitation of children as young as nine by French troops stationed in the country as part of international peacekeeping efforts.

Link:http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...nch-troops-car

[davidbfpo]

Maybe some hope for CAR (the size of Texas), which starts with:

More than two years after rebels in the Central African Republic (CAR) captured the country's capital Bangui and set off a cycle of retribution and ethnic cleansing, 10 groups in the war-torn nation have agreed to lay down their arms.
The agreement, reached Sunday, is the culmination of a national peace forum that began last week in Bangui and included civil society, youth, women, and local representatives. UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon welcomed the decision and called for "its swift and full implementation."

Link:https://news.vice.com/article/tentat...utal-fighting?

A different viewpoint:https://www.opendemocracy.net/opense...d-winding-road

[davidbfpo]

A lengthy report by a FP journalist on the realities outside Bangui, for the people and the armed groups:https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/10/28...-un-violence/?

It appears - once again - the French are tiring of engagement and if they withdraw the 'blue berets' will lose their most robust troops. Tired, why?

France has intervened militarily five times since 1979 and maintained an active military presence for all but four years — 1999 to 2003 — during that period.

Interesting section on troops from the DRC:

On the way back from meeting with the anti-Balaka fighters, my translator and I stumbled into a tense standoff between Congolese U.N. peacekeepers and armed youths of the Fulani ethnic group, from which many of the ex-Seleka fighters are drawn. (Given the abundance of armed men in Bambari and the fluid membership of armed groups there, it can be difficult to distinguish ex-Seleka fighters from gun-toting Fulani civilians.) The youths, some of whom brandished AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades, were arguing bitterly with the peacekeepers, who remained remarkably serene in the face of superior firepower.