Anarchy in the CAR: Government Killing Civilians

The “State of Anarchy: Rebellion and Abuses Against Civilians” report was released yesterday by Human Rights Watch regarding the brutal killings of hundreds of civilians in a counterinsurgency campaign to in the northern part of Central African Republic (CAR) since 2005. One must wonder what it takes for the world to actually respond to modern day human atrocities nowadays. Need we wait for thousands or millions more civilians to be killed?

Since 2005. This sounds just about as bad as the human rights crimes that were occurring in Iraq. Oh, and what’s the difference? There’s no oil involved in the CAR.

Since 2005, the government forces of CAR, rebel groups and zaraguinas, gangs who kidnap children for ransom, have been responsible for these brutal attacks. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has counted that as much as 102,000 civilians have escaped their homes. The horrifying fact is that the government forces have been the main culprit of this. And get this, not a single soldier or officer has been accused of the CAR massacres.

Once again, these massacres have occurred since 2005. Two years of killings.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has communicated its concerns to the United Nations and the European Union. “The European Union is considering deploying a civilian protection force to CAR and Chad, to ensure that the force has the mandate and the capacity to provide effective protection to civilians in CAR”, according to HRW. It has also requested CAR’s former colonial power, France, to take action by providing military assistance to the CAR.

What is utterly deplorable is that it has taken this long, since 2005, for world action. The news has been widely disseminated throughout the world, and only recently has the news obtained occasional media attention worldwide. The fact is, human massacres are still occurring, as we speak. It’s about time that international forces step in and quell these atrocities. What kind of government goes about and kills its own people? It is completely ridiculous. Let’s see if and how soon the United Nations, the European Union or France steps up to integrity. Human lives are at stake. Common sense tells me that the CAR absolutely cannot spare another two years of waiting.

-Denise