{"id":5831,"date":"2017-09-18T08:00:09","date_gmt":"2017-09-18T12:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thediplomaticenvoy.com\/?p=5831"},"modified":"2017-09-17T21:43:55","modified_gmt":"2017-09-18T01:43:55","slug":"escalating-violence-in-the-central-african-republic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2017\/09\/18\/escalating-violence-in-the-central-african-republic\/","title":{"rendered":"Escalating violence in the Central African Republic\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Mia Page<\/strong>
\n<\/strong>Staff Writer <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Stephen O\u2019Brien, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator of the United Nations, recently briefed the U.N. Security Council on the Central African Republic\u2019s ongoing humanitarian crisis, reports Newsweek<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, September 5, O\u2019Brien urged the Security Council to provide support for the CAR\u2019s failing government.\u00a0According to\u00a0Newsweek, O\u2019Brien said he believes \u201cThere\u2019s a very\u00a0deep ethnic-cleansing approach\u201d\u00a0to the acts\u00a0committed by local militias.<\/p>\n

The Central African Republic, known for its many rebellions and conflicts, saw a rise in religious tensions after the forced removal of President Fran\u00e7ois\u00a0Bozize\u00a0in 2013 reports\u00a0The Guardian<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bozize\u00a0won the position\u00a0by way of an aggressive military coup\u00a0and\u00a0was in office from 2003-2013. He ruled the Central African Republic relatively\u00a0peacefully\u00a0until 2013 when the Muslim majority extremist group\u00a0Seleka\u00a0began to threaten\u00a0Bozize\u2019s\u00a0rule.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Seleka\u00a0were\u00a0a rebel alliance that formed in December\u00a0of 2013\u00a0with\u00a0the\u00a0intention\u00a0of establishing a Muslim government in the Central African Republic.\u00a0The newly formed\u00a0Seleska\u00a0intended to start\u00a0their revolution\u00a0with the replacement of the Christian Bozize, according to\u00a0Global Voices<\/a>.\u00a0The new rebel alliance\u00a0crafted a short-lived peace agreement in January of the same year, only to break it two months later executing a coup and causing Bozize\u00a0to flee.<\/p>\n

On the surface,\u00a0tension in the country seemed to wane\u00a0following\u00a0the coup by the\u00a0Seleka,\u00a0but in reality a radical Christian militia was formed in order to combat the new regime.\u00a0Newsweek\u00a0reports that the Anti-Balaka,\u00a0or the Anti-Machete, began to have skirmishes with the Muslim led\u00a0Seleka\u00a0group soon after the coup. The skirmishes evolved into atrocities\u00a0committed\u00a0with the intention of a religious cleansing.\u00a0After the Selka\u2019s dissolution in 2014, former members created small factions known as the ex-Selka.<\/p>\n

Global Voices\u00a0reports that on August 9, over 50 Christians were killed by the Ex-Seleka\u00a0group in\u00a0Bangassou. Possibly in retaliation, the Anti-Balaka\u00a0trapped\u00a02,000 Muslims in a Catholic\u00a0church in the town of\u00a0Bangassou and\u00a0threatened to execute anyone who\u00a0walked outside.<\/p>\n

The U.N.<\/a> Security Council sent French military forces to the CAR in 2013 to protect civilians and aid in the transition process after\u00a0Seleka\u2019s\u00a0coup.\u00a0U.N. forces successfully formed a peace agreement between warring groups in the CAR, but the agreement quickly fell apart in 2016 after the departure of the French army. U.N. forces left the CAR after rising anti-U.N. sentiment led to the assassination of one\u00a0of their military commanders at the hands of the Ex-Seleka, reports\u00a0Jeune\u00a0Afrique<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The escalation of the conflict in CAR brings back the memories of the Rwandan Genocide which saw at least 800,000 people killed in 100 days in the name of ethnic cleansing. Lack of international intervention led to the severity of the Rwandan genocide in 1994, and many in the U.N., including O\u2019Brien, fear another similar case.<\/p>\n

Global Voice<\/a> believes that the lack of support from the international community in the Central African Republic will directly lead to Africa\u2019s next genocide the likes of which haven\u2019t been seen since Rwanda. There no sign of the African Union stepping in to stop the religious purges,\u00a0and the surrounding nations can\u2019t offer much more than a home for civilian refugees.<\/p>\n

Other countries remain preoccupied with the already overwhelming amount religious extremism in places like Yemen and Afghanistan, reports\u00a0CNN<\/a>.\u00a0With no response from the African Union or surrounding nations, the Central African Republic\u2019s main source of external support is now the United Nation\u2019s Security Council.<\/p>\n

CAR\u2019s internal conflicts do not appear to be a priority\u00a0due to\u00a0the lack of a threat on the western world.<\/p>\n

However, without international intervention,\u00a0the Central African Republic with most likely fall into further chaos bringing\u00a0about a religious genocide.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Central African Republic, known for its many rebellions and conflicts, saw a rise in religious tensions after the forced removal of President Fran\u00e7ois\u00a0Bozize, which has led to their ongoing humanitarian crisis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3945,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1097,382,385],"tags":[689,1104,1105],"class_list":["post-5831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-1097","category-international-news","category-africa","tag-genocide","tag-central-african-republic","tag-humanitarian-crisis"],"yoast_head":"\nEscalating violence in the Central African Republic\u00a0 - 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