Geneva — A review by U.N. independent experts of the human rights situation in the Central African Republic reveals rampant ethnic violence and systemic gross violations throughout the country with children suffering appalling abuse and brutality at the hands of armed groups, defense and security forces, and private military and security companies.
"It is rare to find a country with a human rights record so alarming, which has been forgotten by the rest of the world," said Volker Türk, U.N. high commissioner for human rights in his opening salvo at the U.N. human rights council Friday.
"The people of the Central African Republic face a daily reality of sudden spikes of violence where fear is used as a weapon and serious trauma, which has been caused by years of violence."
He said children were not spared the ravages of the conflict that has been ongoing since 2012, noting that girls especially were subjected to horrific acts of sexual violence linked to the conflict.
"Last year, the Human Rights Division recorded 647 children who were victims of child rights violations. The majority concerning the use of children in the armed conflict, attacks on their physical integrity, their freedom, arbitrary detention, and sexual violence linked to the conflict," he said.
Reports received by the U.N. human rights office estimate that armed groups who signed last year's peace agreement were responsible for 35% of the documented abuses, including killings, abductions, detention, ill-treatment, the destruction of infrastructure and appropriation of property.
Virginia Gamba, Special Representative of the U.N. Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict said the number of grave violations committed against children in 2022 had decreased compared to the previous year.
However, she added that conflict continued to take a heavy toll on boys and girls with many being killed and maimed by gunshots and explosive remnants of war.
Sexual abuse
"The recruitment and use of children remained the most prevalent violation verified in 2022," she said. "While boys were most affected, girls were also recruited and used by parties to conflict and most of them were subjected to sexual violence during their association. Some of the girls became pregnant following the rape."
She said children were driven to join armed groups because of poverty and protection of their communities from attacks by rival armed groups.
More than a decade of armed conflict has kept the CAR in a state of perpetual impoverishment, hunger, and ill health. The U.N. office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs, OCHA reports more than two million people, or more than one-third of the population needs humanitarian assistance to survive.
A recent U.N. food assessment finds 2.7 million people, nearly half the population, are acutely food insecure, with 642,000 on the verge of famine. OCHA reports hundreds of thousands of people are suffering from acute malnutrition, most are children under age five. In addition, more than half a million children aged three to 17 are out of school, making them susceptible to recruitment, exploitation, and trafficking.
Mohamed Ag Ayoya, deputy special representative of MINUSCA, the U.N. peacekeeping force in CAR warns children continue to be raped, abducted, killed, maimed, and recruited by armed groups and security forces with impunity.
"There is no peace without justice. Despite the government and partners' efforts, there is still a lot of impunity," he said.
"There are no criminal courts operating. So, rape is often tried as a minor crime, trivialized. And that stops peace and security efforts," he said. "I urge all partners to support the government to bring an end to inequality and to give justice to the victims of rape."
Calls for dialogue
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The minister said there was no military solution to this long-lasting conflict and urged the warring parties to lay down their weapons and "take up a dialogue for the sake of all children in the country."
His sentiments were echoed by rights chief Türk who urged the Government to adopt measures to prevent serious violations from occurring and to provide comprehensive care for the child victims.
Arnaud Djoubaye Abazene, minister of state in charge of justice, human rights and good governance of the CAR responded to these pleas by assuring members of the U.N. human rights council that attention was being paid to all children's issues at the highest level in the country.
"The government is resolved to ensure the protection and promotion of the rights of the child and to combatting the recruitment of children by armed groups.
"The government also reaffirms its commitment to prosecute and punish the perpetrators of crimes against children and other serious human rights violations," he said.
