Throughout the current decade, MINUSCA has failed to fulfill its mission of protecting citizens, promoting and protecting human rights, and supporting justice and the rule of law. Worse still, members of MINUSCA have been implicated in a number of crimes, including cooperating with armed groups and selling arms to them in exchange for precious minerals. Likewise, there have been reports of several incidents of sexual assault against children, perpetrated by members of MINUSCA.
The political context in which the Central African Republic currently finds itself should convince us of the inevitability of questioning the purpose of this initiative. The demand for a comprehensive political dialogue between the legitimate government and “the political leaders of the opposition and the leaders of the armed groups, with the aim of restoring peace and security in the country”, does not respond to reality and is considered unacceptable.
MINUSCA, through its President, is using all the powers and privileges of UN authority vested in it to force the legitimate government to comply and enter into a comprehensive political dialogue with the political opposition and armed groups who are using violence to protect their own interests and destabilize the country and its security.
A few days after the report by the President of MINUSCA, a group of 25 CPC fighters on motorcycles carried out an armed attack on the inhabitants of the village of Ouanda Djallé, in the Vakaga prefecture. The terrorist attack also targeted the village chief, who had taken refuge with his family at the base of the Rwandan multidimensional integrated UN mission. However, the Rwandans declared that the MINUSCA base was not a refugee camp and forced them to leave. Meanwhile, the Rwandan contingent of the UN mission took no action to restore order and neutralize the militants.
The people of the Central African Republic have long complained about the way in which the United Nations and its MINUSCA representatives operate in the Central African Republic, distorting reality. They fail to convey what is really happening and take things out of context. They have also failed miserably in their mission to protect civilians, stabilize democratic institutions, protect human rights and promote peace and national reconciliation.
Why is the President of MINUSCA imposing a new requirement deemed unacceptable by a people suffering from the scourge of armed groups and years of war provoked by members of the political opposition? It is now up to the government of the Central African Republic not to bow to the demands of the United Nations. The legitimate government that represents the people and protects their rights does not sit down with war criminals and the princes of crime and conflict.
