Central African Republic
Current Operations
MICOPAX
Mission de Consolidation de la Paix en Centrafrique (Other)
Since: 07/08
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BINUCA
UN Integrated Peace-building Office in the Central African Republic (UN-Peacebuilding)
Since: 02/00
More Information (fr.)
CAR rebels 'to lay down weapons' (13.04.2007)
(Quelle: BBC) Rebels in the Central African Republic have signed a deal to end the conflict, an army general says. 'We believe that peace has finally taken root,' said Gen Raymond Ndougou, who signed for the government. The UFDR rebels have reportedly agreed to disarm and for their fighters to join the national army but other rebels remain active in the remote north-east. … A draft agreement says the UFDR will be recognised as a political party and will help manage the country. A law will be passed extending amnesty to former rebel fighters.
International force in CAR possible – UN humanitarian chief (04.04.2007)
(Quelle: UN News) A multi-dimensional international force could be deployed to the troubled northeast of the Central African Republic (CAR) without the approval of neighbouring Chad, which is beset by its own civil strife, the United Nations’ top humanitarian official said today. But John Holmes, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, told the Security Council that some sort of international presence is also vital in eastern Chad, where hundreds of thousands of refugees from the CAR and Sudan’s war-torn Darfur region, as well as internally displaced persons (IDPs), are living.
Thousands flee into Darfur after raid by French troops devastated 'ghost town' (30.03.2007)
(Quelle: The Independent) A raid by French paratroops on rebels in the Central African Republic (CAR) destroyed a town and forced 2,000 civilians to flee into neighbouring Darfur. Details of the three-day operation - the extent of which had been kept secret by the French army chief of staff - were obtained by The Independent after a United Nations emergency mission travelled to Birao, which is on the Sudan border. 'We found a ghost town,' said Toby Lanzer, UN humanitarian affairs co-ordinator for CAR. 'It was like Grozny or parts of Mogadishu. Seventy per cent of buildings were burnt and only about 600 civilians were left. They were in a dazed state. They have nothing.
UN launches emergency aid response to fighting in Central African Republic (23.03.2007)
(Quelle: UN News) Calling it “a major humanitarian crisis,” the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is launching emergency action to provide immediate aid to women and children in the northeast of the Central African Republic (CAR) who have been driven from their homes by recent fighting between the Government and rebels. … Prior to this month’s fighting, some 14,000 people lived in Birao, but after a visit on Wednesday, UN country humanitarian coordinator Toby Lanzer estimated that no more than 600 people remain, the rest having fled the violence and believed to be living in the bush. … Overall 1 million people in CAR, a quarter of the population, are affected by widespread and deteriorating insecurity in a country which, according to the UN Human Development Index, is the sixth least developed country in the world.
More violence reported in tense northwest (16.03.2007)
(Quelle: allAfrica) Several civilians have been killed and homes burnt by the army in ongoing clashes with rebels in northwestern Central African Republic, an international advocacy group has said. … The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates there are 150,000 internally displaced people across the CAR. One million people live in the conflict-affected northwestern region.
Rebels clash with French forces (05.03.2007)
(Quelle: New York Times) Rebels in the Central African Republic said they attacked French Army positions in the northern town of Birao on Sunday after French warplanes bombed their forces, killing three of them. “We responded by attacking the French positions, and they have also taken several wounded,” said Ahmat Amadine, a rebel spokesman, adding that residents of the town had fled into the bush to avoid the fighting. … In December, France sent special forces backed by helicopters and fighter jets to dislodge rebel fighters from Birao and elsewhere in the Central African Republic, a former French colony. Since then, France has maintained forces in the area.
UN chief suggests Chad, CAR force (21.02.2007)
(Quelle: BBC) The UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, has called for up to 11,000 peacekeepers to be sent to Chad and the Central African Republic. Mr Ban said the troops were needed to protect people affected by the Darfur conflict in neighbouring Sudan. In a report to the UN Security Council, Mr Ban proposed two options. The first option calls for 6,000 troops to be backed by helicopters, while the second envisages a more ground-based mission with 10,900 troops. Mr Ban said he recommended the second option because it could respond to unforeseen events.
Uganda: Kony, Otti enter Central African Republic (20.02.2007)
(Quelle: allAfrica) More than 400 fighters of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), led by their leaders Joseph Kony and Vincent Otti, have entered the Central African Republic, the army has said. Kony entered the strife-torn country through Tambura in South Sudan, while Otti sneaked in directly from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Sources said the rebels are targeting the national park in the south-east of the country, where there is hardly any government presence. Last week, an advance party of 40 rebels crossed to the Central African Republic, where they looted food and drugs from Yangiri dispensary. The main group of 400 rebels, who were camped 35km south of Tambura town, followed on Monday. 'We have received information that the Ugandan rebels and their top leadership are now in the Central African Republic,' the defence ministry spokesman, Major Felix Kulayigye, said yesterday.
Fresh attacks force hundreds of Central Africans to flee into Chad (09.02.2007)
(Quelle: UN News) A new and particularly brutal round of attacks on villages in the north of the Central African Republic (CAR) has driven hundreds of people into neighbouring Chad over the past month, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported today. Some 400 refugees arrived in Bekoninga, a southern Chadian village, late last month, and an estimated 200 others are expected to cross the border soon, according to Jennifer Pagonis, a spokesperson for UNHCR in Geneva. The latest arrivals – mostly women and children and a mix of ethnic Peuls and Arabs – join about 46,000 refugees from the CAR living in four UNHCR-operated camps in southern Chad. About 300 have already been transferred to one of the camps.
Central Africa signs peace deal with rebels - Libya (03.02.2007)
(Quelle: Sudan Tribune) The Central African Republic signed a Libyan-brokered peace accord on Friday with two rebel groups, Libyan officials said. Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi watched the signing in his home town of Sirte in Libya alongside Central African President Francois Bozize, they said. Under the deal, the government and the two rebel factions — the Union of Democratic Forces for Unity (UFDR) and the People’s Democratic Front — agreed to stop hostilities and allow the rebels to integrate the ranks of government security and military forces or public service administration.
U.N. team checks out CAR appeal for peacekeepers (30.01.2007)
(Quelle: Reliefweb) U.N. security experts on Tuesday began evaluating an appeal from Central African Republic for U.N. peacekeepers to protect its borders, days after the country's president held peace talks with some rebel leaders. The United Nations Security Council is considering whether to deploy U.N. blue-helmets to Chad and Central African Republic to secure their frontiers against rebels and armed raiders spilling over from Sudan's conflict-torn Darfur region. An assessment mission sent by the Council, the second since November, visited Chad last week and arrived in Central African Republic on Tuesday to tour northern areas hit by rebel attacks last year and earlier this month.
Egregious violations’ of rights in Central African Republic force thousands to flee: UN (26.01.2007)
(Quelle: UN News) Around 40,000 people in the impoverished Central African Republic (CAR) have been forced to flee their homes because of summary executions and ethnic violence, a joint United Nations mission reported today, as the world body’s top aid official warned of the appalling suffering from these “egregious violations of human rights.” For fear of reprisals linked to the ongoing conflict between Government Security Forces and the armed opposition, the entire populations of some centres in the north and northeast of the strife-torn country have left their homes, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.
New UN assessment team off to Chad, Central African Republic Friday (19.01.2007)
(Quelle: Reliefweb) A small UN team will kick off a 16-day mission to Chad and the Central African Republic (CAR) Friday to assess prospects for deploying a robust UN force to protect civilians caught in the spillover from Sudan's Darfur conflict. A senior UN official, who asked not to be named, said a first batch from the 30-member team would arrive in N'Djamena Sunday night and would begin work Monday. The team will be led by Francois Dureau, of the UN Department of Peacekeeping operations (DPKO), and will comprise two separate groups which will hold talks and conduct field visits in both Chad and CAR.
Neue Kämpfe in Zentralafrikanischer Republik (17.01.2007)
(Quelle: taz) Nach Wochen relativer Ruhe sind in der Zentralafrikanischen Republik erneut heftige Kämpfe zwischen Rebellen und der Regierungsarmee ausgebrochen. Die Armee erklärte, sie habe am Montag einen Rebellenangriff auf Paoua, 400 Kilometer nördlich der Hauptstadt Bangui, abgewehrt. … Bei den Angreifern soll es sich nach Armeeangaben um Kämpfer der APRD (Volksarmee zur Wiederherstellung der Republik und der Demokratie) handeln, die dem Expräsidenten Ange-Felix Patassé nahe steht und vom ehemaligen Armeeoberst Bedaya N'djadder Mounoumbaye geführt wird.
Security Council calls for quick action on possible UN force (16.01.2007)
(Quelle: UN News) The Security Council today asked Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to submit his recommendations by the middle of next month on the possibility and scope of a formal United Nations presence in eastern Chad and the northeast of the Central African Republic (CAR) – where UN humanitarian officials are alarmed about the impact of increasingly frequent rebel attacks.
UN team on peacekeeping options heads to Central African Republic in next two weeks (15.01.2007)
(Quelle: UN News) A United Nations assessment mission will head to the Central African Republic (CAR) within the next fortnight to consider whether blue helmets should be sent to stabilize the troubled country and its neighbour Chad in the wake of recent clashes between rebels and Government forces in both countries. Lamine Cissé, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for the CAR, told reporters today after giving a briefing to the Security Council that the mission team is currently determining its terms of reference and will travel to the region either “next week or the week after.”
UN Security Council pursues UN force option (10.01.2007)
(Quelle: Irinnews) United Nations Security Council members emerged from a lengthy meeting on Chad, the Central African Republic (CAR) and Darfur on Wednesday, agreeing by consensus to send a new technical assessment mission to Chad and CAR “as quickly as possible” according to current Council president, Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin. “They are going to look into the possibility of deploying a UN peace mission,” said Churkin, who declined to give details about a future peacekeeping force.
UN reports security deterioration (08.01.2007)
(Quelle: UN News) Security in the Central African Republic (CAR) has deteriorated over the past two months, especially in the north and along the borders with Chad and the Sudan, according to the latest United Nations report on the impoverished country where humanitarian agencies are struggling to reach up to 1 million people affected by violence. The report points to a climate of tension between Sudan, Chad and the CAR “that is not propitious to a rapprochement.”
Villages burned and emptied (30.12.2006)
(Quelle: Reliefweb) The dusty, winding 45 kilometer road from Kaga Bandoro to Wandago is empty now, except for the charred remains of 54 villages. The residents, some 25,000 people, have all fled into the bush over the past two months to escape further attacks from the country’s army and ongoing fighting between the soldiers and a rebel group intent on overthrowing the government. They are among some 150,000 people displaced by the conflict and desperate for help.
Blame game as villages burn (19.12.2006)
(Quelle: Irinnews) Local civilians say they are being targeted because the government accuses them of harbouring fighters of l’Armée populaire pour la restauration de la république et la démocratie (APRD), a group headed by renegade Lt. Bedaya N’Djadder. … The CAR government has accused (former president) Patassé, who was deposed by François Bozize in 2003 with the backing of neighbouring Chad, of supporting the rebels. The government has also linked the rebellion to Sudan, an accusation denied by the Sudanese government.
Army recaptures last rebel-held town (11.12.2006)
(Quelle: Irinnews) The army has recaptured a town in the northeast of the Central African Republic (CAR), the last of several held by rebels since November, a spokesman for President François Bozize said on Monday. 'The town of Ouadda-Djalle was recaptured on Sunday without any fighting,' Cyriaque Gonda, the spokesman, told IRIN. The recapture of Ouadda-Djalle, in the northern prefecture of Vakaga, ends the occupation of areas in the northeast by a rebel coalition known as Union des forces démocratiques pour le rassemblement (UFDR), which began operations on 30 October by capturing the town of Birao, the provincial capital of Vakaga. Ouadda-Djalle is 110 km south of Birao.
L'armée française en première ligne dans les conflits d'Afrique centrale (06.12.2006)
(Quelle: Le Monde) Alors qu'elle s'efforce depuis un an d''européaniser' sa présence sur le continent noir pour sortir d'un tête-à-tête devenu contre-productif, la France retrouve-t-elle malgré elle son rôle historique de 'gendarme' en Afrique ? Bien que l'affirmation provoque des dénégations agacées au ministère de la défense, les événements en cours au Tchad et en République centrafricaine (RCA) tendent à accréditer cette impression.
UN office to support national reconciliation in volatile Central African Republic (04.12.2006)
(Quelle: UN News) Responding to the volatile situation in the Central African Republic (CAR) – an impoverished country bordering Chad and Sudan – the United Nations office there plans to support national reconciliation, strengthen democracy and promote good governance, Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in a letter released today. “I share the Security Council’s concern over the recent deterioration of the security situation in the Central African Republic, which is aggravated not only by the ongoing rebellion in the north-eastern part of the country, but also by instability along the country’s borders with Chad and the Sudan,” he writes in the letter on the UN Peacebuilding Support Office in CAR (BONUCA).
Government troops recapture rebel-held towns (04.12.2006)
(Quelle: AlertNet) The Central African Republic (CAR) army has recaptured two more towns in the north of the country that were occupied in November by rebels opposed to President François Bozize. The rebels now control only the town of Ouadda-Djalle in the northern prefecture of Vakaga, after the army recaptured Ndele on Sunday and Sam-Ouandja on Friday. Ndele is in Bamingui-Bangoran prefecture and Sam-Ouandja in Haute Kotto.
Im Windschatten von Darfur (02.12.2006)
(Quelle: FAZ) Im Windschatten des Darfur-Krieges droht außer Tschad ein weiteres Land verwüstet zu werden: die Zentralafrikanische Republik. Seit Monaten ist der Norden des Landes Schauplatz einer „Rebellion“, deren Verursacher mutmaßlich aus Sudan heraus operieren und ihre Waffen auch über Khartum beziehen. Was die Rebellen der „Union des Forces democratiques pour le rassemblement“ eigentlich wollen, außer den Präsidenten zu stürzen, ist nicht klar. Sie halten mehrere Orte besetzt, unter anderen die Regionalstädte Birao und Bria. Seit Wochenbeginn läuft eine Offensive gegen ihre Stellungen, an denen neben der regulären Armee auch Soldaten aus Gabun und Kongo-Brazzaville sowie Frankreich teilnehmen. Mittlerweile sind die französischen Truppen in einen ausgewachsenen Krieg verwickelt.
Security Council extends life of UN mission in troubled Central African Republic (23.11.2006)
(Quelle: UN News) The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations political mission in the Central African Republic (CAR) by another year as it expressed deep concern about the deteriorating security situation in the impoverished nation. In a presidential statement read out by Ambassador Jorge Voto-Bernales of Peru, Council members also voiced fears that conditions could worsen further because of instability along its volatile borders with Sudan and Chad.
Central African Republic gets help to fight rebels (20.11.2006)
(Quelle: Reliefweb) A six-member regional grouping is to give its multinational force in the Central African Republic (CAR) powers to step in and fight rebels who have seized several towns in the northeast of the country. Gabonese President Omar Bongo said in a statement on Saturday that the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) had 'acceded to a request from the Central African Republic authorities to intervene in securising conflict zones'. 'The force in the Central African Republic will intervene, and this intervention is imminent,' a Gabonese diplomat said speaking on condition of anonymity.
Central Africa's Bozize asks EU to push for UN troops (17.11.2006)
(Quelle: Reuters AlertNet) Central African Republic President Francois Bozize asked for European Union help on Friday in pressuring the United Nations to provide protective forces to block cross-border attacks. 'My country has had to face, for the last 15 days, an attack characterised by the violation of its territorial sovereignty, by the occupation of cities in the northeast by a band of non-identified assailants that want to impose on us a rebellion from abroad,' Bozize told a conference in Brussels.
CAR hails French pledge on rebels (14.11.2006)
(Quelle: BBC) The Central African Republic (CAR) government says it is satisfied after France promised to help it against rebels, who have made recent advances. A French spokesman said it would provide logistics and intelligence to government forces. A rebel spokesman, however, said France was not helping the CAR people, merely President Francois Bozize, who seized power in a 2003 coup. The rebels have seized two towns during a two-week long offensive. They are reported to be near the mining town of Bria, some 600 kilometres (375 miles) north-east of the capital, Bangui.
Help us kick rebels out of town, Bozize urges France (09.11.2006)
(Quelle: Irinnews) Central African Republic (CAR) President Francois Bozize has renewed his call to France to help his government repulse a rebel coalition that has captured the northern town of Birao. 'We cannot understand why France is reluctant to help our army; we have signed a defence accord with France and there is no reason for France to stay away when the CAR is attacked by foreign troops,' Bozize said. … Bozize first made his appeal to France on 1 November when he cut short a visit to China upon learning of the fall of Birao. He asked France to provide the government with military support - troops and equipment including jet fighters - for the army to take on the rebels.