[JURIST] The chief prosecutor of the Central African Republic (CAR) [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive], announced on Friday that the country had issued an arrest warrant [Reuters article] for former president Francois Bozize [World Biography profile]. The charges include crimes against humanity and inciting genocide. Bozize also stands accused of several murders, summary exectutions, and other abuses during his two-term presidency that ended when he was overthrown earlier this year [JURIST report]. Bozize is currently living in exile in Cameroon.

Various groups have focused on human rights controversies that occurred during the ouster of Bozize, dissolution of the country’s constitution, and appointment of Michel Djotodia as CAR’s new leader. In May, Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] reported that members of the Seleka rebel coalition who ousted President Bozize committed atrocities [JURIST report] against civilians including pillage, summary execution, rape and torture. In March, the United Nations condemned the coup [JURIST report] by CAR Seleka rebels after they seized the country’s capital of Bangui, causing Bozize to flee the country.