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Violence Continues to Escalate in the Central African Republic

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 20 2014 (IPS) - As violence in the Central African Republic (CAR) continues to escalate, U.N. Secretary -General Ban Ki-moon, following consultations with the U.N Security Council (UNSC), has proposed a six-point initiative to address the dominant issues facing the country.

Formulated under the belief that the establishment of a UN peacekeeping mission would take too long to bring critical affective action, the six point initiative seeks to — increase the existing troop capacity by 3000, coordinate international forces in the CAR, give additional provision of logistical support amounting to 38 million US dollars, give immediate tangible support to the CAR government to establish a minimum functional capacity, accelerate political reconciliation and provide urgent funding for humanitarian aid.

“The crisis that continues to unfold in the Central African Republic poses a test for the entire international community. The situation in the country has been on the agenda of the Security Council for many years now. But today’s emergency is of another, more disturbing magnitude. It is a calamity with a strong claim on the conscience of humankind,” Ban told the UNSC.
Recently, the violent targeting of civilians, mostly Muslim, has escalated to such proportions and along such clear sectarian lines that comparisons are being made to the 1994 circumstances in Rwanda.

“I am extremely concerned about the humanitarian situation in CAR. The country has plunged into chaos and deadly violence following months of political crisis and lawlessness. We need more troops on the ground to provide security and protection to all civilians across the country,” said Valerie Amos, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator.

At present, including those noted by the UNSG’s initiative, an additional 2000 French troops have been deployed to the CAR, and by early March the European Union’s (EU) troop presence will increase from 500 to 1000. AU Commission President Zuma has also stated her intention to expand the African-led International Support Mission to the Central African Republic (MISCA) presence.

On February 12, 2014, António Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), upon his return from the CAR, declared the continued existence of massive ethno-religious cleansing. Similarly, on the same day, Amnesty International declared the situation in the CAR a failure of international peacekeepers to prevent ethnic cleansing. As of Feb 20, 2014, the UNSG has refrained from terming the violence in the CAR as genocide.

“We have the power to stop the killing and save the Central African Republic from its current nightmare,” said the UNSG.

On February 18, 2014, Doctors Without Borders (DWB) issued a “damning indictment of the international response to the crisis,” indicating that the absence of meaningful action amounts to an “abandonment” of the CAR population.

“Our foremost concern is protection. We are caught in a sense of helplessness faced with extreme violence, treating thousands of wounded, and seeing hundreds of thousands of people fleeing their homes as it is their only option to avoid being slaughtered,” said Dr. Joanne Liu, DWB International President, who recently returned from the CAR. “To the scale and magnitude of the crisis right now in CAR, what we see in terms of response is completely unbalanced.”

The conflict in the CAR began in 2012, as Muslim Seleka rebels launched attacks against the government. Since then, the conflict has grown increasingly divided along sectarian lines, with Christian anti-balaka (anti-machete) militias taking up arms against the Séléka groups. While Muslim civilians represent a majority of the targeted population, Christians are also under threat.

 
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