Central African Republic: UN condemns killing of politician, latest violence

A senior United Nations official today condemned the latest wave of violence in the Central African Republic (CAR) capital Bangui, including the killing of a member of the National Transitional Council, and called for those responsible to be brought to account.

In a news release, the UN Integrated Peacebuilding Office in the CAR (BINUCA) said its head General Babacar Gaye, condemned the killing of transition politician Jean-Emmanuel Ndjaroua by unidentified armed attackers, and equally deplored the latest round of “unnecessary and indiscriminate violence that creates a climate of fear and encourages the emergence of acts of banditry.”

General Gaye, who is also the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, urged the authorities to establish a functional criminal chain to bring to justice those responsible for these crimes and thus put an end to impunity.

BINUCA is mandated by the UN Security Council to support the implementation of the transition process by expediting the re-establishment of constitutional order and implementing the 2013 Libreville agreements which resulted in a temporary ceasefire and created a unity Government in which opposition figures were given key posts.

The rebels claimed the Government failed to live up to its commitments, and the conflict reignited resulting in thousands of people killed in sectarian violence over the past months, with the largely Christian militia, known as anti-Balaka (anti-machete), taking up arms against an alliance of mainly Muslim rebel groups – known, collectively, as ‘Séléka.’

General Gaye reiterated today the Security Council’s call on armed groups that they immediately lay down their arms.

“It is only in a stable Central African Republic, where communities are reconciled, that everyone will find a democratic way to satisfy its legitimate claims,” he said in the release.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, supported by the UN human rights office and other UN entities, has described the human suffering in the country as “a crisis of epic proportions.”

The Council has authorized a new international push in CAR, allowing European troops to deploy an operation for an initial six months. They join an African-led and French-backed peacekeeping force to quell the spiralling violence known by its French acronym MISCA.