War crimes and crimes against humanity are being committed with impunity in the Central African Republic, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) said in a report published Tuesday.
The report, entitled “They must all leave or die”, is the result of several FIDH missions to the deeply-impoverished nation, and established contacts with mainly-Muslim Seleka alliance which seized power last year and the Christian vigilante “anti-balaka” (anti-machete) groups.
“It is a political and ethnic struggle for power, which has gradually taken on a religious dimension,” Mathias Morouba, vice-chairman of the OCDH, a Congolese rights group, said in the report.
“But those who give the orders today will be held responsible for this ethnic cleansing and the international crimes they are committing,” he insisted.
Since their December 2013 offensive on the capital, Bangui, the anti-balaka “have been systematically attacking civilians, in particular Muslims,” the report said.
Meanwhile, the Seleka former rebels “continue to perpetrate serious human-rights violations and international crimes,” it added.
Among the Seleka, the report singles out former president, Michel Djotodia, his head of intelligence Noureddine Adam, and the head of the Sudanese Janjaweed militia who ransacked and pillaged Darfur, General Moussa Assimeh for their roles in this “conflict of impunity”.
As for the anti-balaka, “the investigations carried out have established the presence and the activism amongst them of numerous officers of the Central African Armed Forces (FACA) and of people close to the deposed president, François Bozize,” the FIDH declared.
“The international community must support African, French and soon UN forces in putting an end to these crimes, protect civilians and bring those responsible for these crimes to justice,” said FIDH president Karim Lahidji.
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