The appointment of a Mauritanian general to head the Minusca task force is controversial

The appointment of General Ely Zayed Ould M'Bareck as head of the Bangui de la Minusca task force, the UN peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic, has sparked several protests.

(illustrative image) Florent Vergnes AFP / Archivos

Text by: RFI Follow

2 min

Several demonstrations were organized this week by members of Mauritanian human rights associations in front of United Nations buildings in New York, Paris and Dakar.

They are protesting against the appointment of General Ely Zayed Ould M'Bareck as head of the Bangui de la Minusca task force, the UN peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic.

These organizations accuse Ely Zayed Ould M'Bareck of having participated in abuses and reprisals against Negro-Mauritanian soldiers in the 1990s.

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Former soldier in the 1990s, Abdel Aziz Soumaré cannot digest the appointment of General Ely Zayed Ould M'Bareck, whose name appears on a list of those responsible for abuses drawn up by survivors of the violence with the help of the organization Act for human rights.

"

 There is nothing more insulting to the victims than to see a man who has the background of this gentleman find himself at the head of an institution as respectable and honorable as the UN, moreover responsible for maintaining peace and defend human rights.

 "  

No complaint has ever been filed against General Ely Zayed Ould M'Bareck because of the 1993 amnesty law, said Alassane Dia, president of the Living Together Truth and Reconciliation Coalition.

This text exonerates members of the armed forces who committed offenses committed between January 1, 1989 and April 18, 1992.

“ 

We are asking Mauritania to reverse the 1993 law which created precisely all this imbroglio that we are experiencing today.

The problem in Mauritania is precisely that there is no memory work.

The State considers today that what it calls the "humanitarian liability" is closed.

But in reality, until the state takes all of this into consideration, there will be no reconciliation.

 "

Neither La Minusca nor the Mauritanian authorities responded to RFI's requests.

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  • UN

  • Central African Republic

  • Mauritania