[JURIST] Advocacy groups, such as Human Rights Watch (HRW), are teaming up with various Central African groups to form a coalition urging the Central African Republic‘s (CAR) [CIA World Factbook profile] transitional parliament to adopt a Special Criminal Court in order to expedite justice for victims of atrocities within the country. The parliament, known as the National Transition Council, is set to debate a law in the coming days, developed by the government in conjunction with the UN, that would create such a court. The court, which would be composed of 14 national and 13 international judges, would be a part of the nation’s judicial system for a renewable term of five years. Limited to a maximum sentence of life in prison, the court would begin by trying dozens of individuals identified by the Special Investigation Cell, a body employed since April 2014 to investigate those responsible for the most egregious human rights violations in the CAR. In a document [text] distributed to the National Transition Council, the coalition of advocacy groups set out ten reasons the council should adopt such a court, emphasizing that,

[t]he proposed draft law on the Special Criminal Court constitutes a balanced and innovative initiative to support the Central African judicial system, which is ravaged by the conflict triggered in 2012 by the armed groups in the northern part of the country. The Special Criminal Court will strengthen the national judiciary’s capacity to investigate and prosecute those responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity in efficient, independent and fair trials.

Violence has persisted in the CAR for the past two years, escalating after the predominately Muslim-based Seleka rebels ousted the government of Bozize in March 2013. According to UN estimates, nearly 440,000 people remain displaced in the country while 190,000 others have sought asylum outside its borders. More than 36,000 people remain trapped across the CAR, hoping to find safety in neighboring countries. Last month members of a UN investigatory commission reported that crimes against humanity have been widely committed by all parties to the conflict in the CAR and called for the establishment of an international court [JURIST report] to objectively investigate and prosecute perpetrators of these crimes. Earlier last month, the UN published a report stating that the acts committed in the CAR constituted war crimes and crimes against humanity but not genocide. Despite this finding, members of the international community maintain that there is much work to be done [JURIST op-ed] in the nation. In September the International Criminal Court [official website] opened [JURIST report] a second investigation into CAR war crimes. In January of last year the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution [JURIST report] extending the mandate of the UN Integrated Peacebuilding Office in the Central African Republic [official website] and imposing travel bans and asset freezes on those suspected of war crimes in the CAR.