Central African Republic
Expected Council Action
The Council expects a briefing in July by the new special representative and head of BINUCA, Margaret Vogt, on the situation in CAR.
BINUCA’s mandate expires on 31 December.
Key Recent Developments
The security situation in the Central African Republic (CAR) remains fragile. Banditry, attacks by foreign rebel elements, extreme poverty and lack of capacity on the part of defence and security forces and of the judiciary continue to impede peace consolidation.
On 12 June the government of CAR signed a ceasefire agreement with the Convention of Patriots for Justice and Peace (CPJP), the only armed group not to have signed the June 2008 Libreville Comprehensive Peace Agreement. CPJP has been behind several anti-government attacks, including election-related violence in February and an attack in the north-eastern city of Birao in November 2010, in which six people were killed and several soldiers were captured.
The ceasefire will allow for progress in the areas of disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) and security sector reform (SSR). While DDR has yet to begin in the northern areas of the country, considerable progress has been made in the development of a national reintegration strategy for former combatants.
In his latest report, the Secretary-General noted that the average number of Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) attacks had decreased by nearly half in the last six months and that LRA groups previously operating in the northeast have apparently left. Nevertheless, LRA attacks have continued elsewhere. On 13 March the LRA attacked a village in the central mining area of Nzako, killing at least six people, including four CAR soldiers, and abducting between 30 and 50 others. On 16 January the LRA attacked two villages, Agoumar and Madabazouma, in southern CAR, abducting 12 civilians, mostly women.
On 23 January, François Bozizé was re-elected as president of CAR after receiving 66 percent of the vote. The results were widely contested, and the outcome was rejected by three of the five candidates, who called the balloting a “masquerade.” Three electoral commission officials were subsequently arrested on 11 February as part of a fraud investigation. Following these events, the government has planned to revisit the electoral code and look into lessons learned to avoid irregularities in future elections.
On 19 May, the Secretary-General announced the appointment of Margaret Vogt of Nigeria as his special representative and head of the UN Integrated Peacebuilding Office in CAR (BINUCA), replacing the outgoing Sahle-Work Zewde.
On 2 March the UN opened a new political office designed to support Central African nations in consolidating peace, preventing conflict and tackling cross-border arms trafficking and organised crime. The UN Regional Office in Central Africa (UNOCA), located in Libreville, Gabon, has an initial mandate of two years and will work closely with the Economic Community of Central African States, composed of Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, CAR, Chad, Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and São Tomé and Príncìpe.
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Developments in the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) |
Key Issues
A key issue is the security situation in northeastern CAR, which remains precarious following MINURCAT’s withdrawal.
A second issue is the threat to stability posed by the LRA and determining how this can best be addressed within the Council’s wider approach to tackling the LRA threat in the subregion.
A third issue is the need for progress on SSR and good governance, including establishing rule-of-law capacity in terms of moving forward with the peacebuilding process and proceeding with the DDR process.
Options
One option for the Council is to simply receive the briefing.
A second option would be to make a determined effort to build on the thematic conclusion reached by the Council in its debate in February on security and development and the need to address root causes. Further integrating its efforts with the PBC country-specific configuration would be a related option.
Another option would be to lift the profile of the security situation in the country by issuing a statement.
Council Dynamics
There continues to be general consensus among Council members on the need to support the peacebuilding process in CAR. But Council members tend to take a wait-and-see perspective on how to address the situation. The Secretary-General’s report and Vogt’s briefing may influence the Council’s next steps.
France is the lead country on this issue in the Council.
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Presidential Statements |
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Secretary-General’s Reports |
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PBC-Related Document |
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Council Meeting Record |
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Letters |
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