Central African Republic

The United Nations Security Council agreed on Thursday to review arms embargo measures on Central African Republic by the end of September if the country makes progress in areas including reform of its security sector and management of its weapons.

On January 24, peace talks aimed at ending the conflict in the Central African Republic (CAR) opened in Khartoum. Brokered by the African Union (AU), the dialogue brings together government representatives and fourteen armed groups. Difficult negotiations lie ahead, partly because several transitional justice initiatives have already gotten off the ground in recent months. An examination of these initiatives raises a variety of questions about CAR’s peace process.

The prime minister of Central African Republic led a rally of around 3.000 people on Monday calling for a global arms embargo to be lifted ahead of a UN meeting later this week.

14 armed groups and the government of Central African Republic meet in Khartoum for talks in an effort to bring peace.

Patrice-Edouard Ngaïssona, the coordinator of a mainly Christian militia faction in the Central African Republic and a senior African football executive, has been transferred to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to face accusations of crimes against humanity and war crimes.

As a new round of peace talks between armed groups and the government of Central African Republic is scheduled to begin this week, the UN’s top humanitarian official in CAR warns that continued violence could push the country closer to famine.

The agreement by the Government and armed groups in the Central African Republic to hold talks later this month (CAR) is “an important step to resolve the country’s crisis”, said the UN peacekeeping chief, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, on Thursday.