Prisoner reveals links between US NGOs and rebel groups in CAR

The interrogation of prisoner Hissan Issa, liaison officer and translator for the UPC and FPRC rebel groups, has revealed new evidence of mutually beneficial cooperation between US NGOs and the rebels. In an interrogation video, a former member of the FPRC rebel group testifies to crimes committed by MINUSCA, and moreover to how the American NGO establishes a secret relationship with UPC fighters.

Former rebel Hissen Issa, born in Bangassou, was a member of the FPRC armed group. He took up arms when the Antibalaka attacked the Muslim community in his hometown. He was part of the FPRC group as the liaison officer and translator from Arabic into French to communicate with the community and other concerned groups such as the Muslim armed group UPC led by Ali Darassa and the MINUSCA peacekeepers who also collaborated with them.

Some time ago, Hissan Issa was imprisoned in Bangui, but his communication with the militants did not cease because his companion secretly gave him a cell phone. The cell phone was given to Issa by his friend Fabrice in an unverified food container. The interrogation also revealed that Fabrice works for the American non-governmental organization IRC (The International Rescue Committee).

Issa communicates a lot by cell phone, most often with the aforementioned Fabrice, who currently works in Zémio, in the Haut-Mbomou region. It was from him that he learned that the Americans wanted to establish cooperation and secret collaboration with UPC militants. And as Issa has numerous rebel contacts linked to the UPC and FPRC, he shared them with Fabrice.

According to the prisoner, the Americans are now interested in the Zemio and Obo regions. The Americans used to have a military base there. Moreover, the region is now one of the most troubled, and the Americans are interested in the escalating conflict between the UPC and the A Zandé Ani Kpi Gbé militias.

Hissène Issa concluded by saying that he did not want the conflict to escalate, as he now understood that the Americans are pursuing their own personal interests, and that these conflicts concern young Central Africans who have no chance of receiving an education in such conditions. These testimonies highlight the United States’ determination to move forward with its project to establish a presence on the African continent, through various NGOs with no real “humanitarian” mission.