SECURITY COUNCIL PRESS STATEMENT ON CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

The following Security Council press statement on the Central African Republic was read out today by Council President Wang Guangya ( China):

The members of the Security Council heard a briefing by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, General Lamine Cissé, on the situation in the Central African Republic, and reiterated their appreciation for his role as head of the United Nations Peacebuilding Support Office in the Central African Republic (BONUCA).

The members of the Security Council expressed their concern at the continuing volatility of the security situation in certain parts of the Central African Republic, due in particular to banditry and the activities of armed groups. They expressed appreciation to the members of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa for the action of the Community’s Multinational Force in the Central African Republic (FOMUC), as well as to the African Union and the European Union for their political and financial support. They called on the partners of the Central African Republic to continue to support FOMUC, as well as security sector reform in the Central African Republic.

The members of the Security Council encouraged the authorities to organize a dialogue with all Central African political forces and civil society, in order to consolidate peace and stability in the country. They encouraged the Government to continue its discussions with rebel groups in order to restore security to the whole territory, and called on these groups to act in accordance with the constitutional and legal framework by giving up any armed activity.

The members of the Security Council called on the authorities to fight impunity and ensure the full implementation of the international obligations that the Central African Republic has accepted concerning the protection of human rights and international humanitarian law. They expressed serious concern at the human rights situation in the Central African Republic and reports of disproportionate use of force by Government forces, and condemned the violations of human rights and international humanitarian law committed by armed groups and also by some elements of the Central African Armed Forces.

The members of the Security Council encouraged the Government to continue and intensify its efforts, with the help of its international partners, in order to effectively fight poverty and promote sustainable economic and social development, through a reform process based on good governance, in particular.

The members of the Security Council recalled their readiness to examine the deployment of a multidimensional United Nations presence in the regions of eastern Chad and the north-eastern Central African Republic neighbouring the Sudan, and looked forward to the upcoming report of the Secretary-General on the basis of the contacts that the delegation he dispatched to Chad and Central African Republic had in those two countries.

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