The UN announced on Thursday the additional deployment of UN peacekeepers in the southeast Haut Mbomou region of the Central African Republic to prevent further violence. Valentine Rugwabiza, the head of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), announced the deployment at a UN Security Council Briefing.
Rugwabiza reported that the mission decided to expand its presence in the region to make progress on the security, humanitarian and peacebuilding fronts amid the intensifying violence against civilians. Citing the recent killing of 16 civilians in Limé village, Rugwabiza stressed that political and security crises have made transhumance “one of the main triggers of attacks against civilians,” urging the mission’s continued support. The mission therefore facilitated a conference on transhumance in cooperation with the Central African Republic (CAR) government to help forge peaceful coexistence between local farmers and herders.
Rugwabiza also stated the mission’s support for the upcoming local elections in the country, which are being held for the first time in the past 36 years. The measures include raising awareness to mobilize broad and safe participation, especially for women. She nevertheless expressed concern over the continuous misinformation and disinformation campaigns targeting the MINUSCA that threaten the mission’s objectives and “further complicate the already-challenging context in which the Mission operates.” Accordingly, she called on the CAR government to hold those individuals who echo such campaigns accountable.
CAR Minister for Foreign Affairs Sylvie Baïpo-Temon urged the Security Council to focus on the “real evils” that threaten her country instead of what the government is able to solve, stating that any reported human rights violations should not overshadow the fact that the country is under attack by armed rebellion groups comprising mainly foreign mercenaries.
US diplomat Robert Wood remarked that the US appreciates the mission’s commitment to restore peace in the CAR and called upon the CAR government’s cooperation to facilitate the mission’s operation. He underscored that the key step towards a meaningful resolution is through partnership, which involves “two-way collaboration and mutual respect.” While respecting the CAR’s sovereignty, the US voiced that “not all partners are equally committed to creating the conditions for lasting peace,” referring exclusively to the Kremlin-backed Wagner Group and alleging its objectives are to foster dependency instead of promoting peace.
Representatives of France and the UK similarly highlighted the threat of the Russian Wagner Group in the CAR. UK Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN James Kariuki said that the UK “has information that Russian proxies are likely trying to undermine MINUSCA’s continued presence in CAR, including through disinformation campaigns against the Mission, in violation of the Security Council’s resolutions and CAR’s sovereignty.”
Russian representative A.M. Evstigneeva responded that the situation in the CAR has changed radically in the past few years, heading towards stability and moving for the better primarily because of the efforts of the CAR government, the resilience of its people and support from the UN and bilateral partners including Russia. She stated that Central African people are defending their independence and sovereign rights by choosing their partners freely, despite the ongoing, years-long slanderous campaign of France, the US and the UK. While supporting the mission’s work in the CAR, Russia emphasized its belief that the full implementation of the mission’s mandate is possible “only if mutual understanding with the authorities of the host country is maintained” and thus called for resolving all contradictions through constructive bilateral dialogues.
Chinese representative Geng Shuang acknowledged the improvement of the security situation and the economic growth in the country as well as the MINUSCA’s efforts on these fronts. He stated that China appreciates the MINUSCA’s efforts and commits to supporting the mission’s work, but he also called on partner countries and donors to honor their commitments to meet the humanitarian needs in the country.
Peacekeeping forces with the MINUSCA were initially authorized and deployed by the UN Security Council in the CAR in 2014 with the mission to protect civilians in times of human rights crises. In December, the UN decided to deploy peacekeepers to the northwest of the country after a deadly attack killed 23 civilians.
