CAR: Human Rights Watch accuses Russian paramilitaries of killing and torturing civilians
A member of the close protection unit of the President of the Central African Republic, Faustin-Archange Touadéra, made up of agents from the Russian private security company Sewa Security, in Berengo on August 4, 2018. © FLORENT VERGNES / AFP
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The human rights organization HRW publishes this Tuesday May 3 a report denouncing forces linked to Russia, which could belong to the paramilitary group Wagner, of having summarily executed, tortured, beaten civilians in February 2019 and November 2021 in the Central African Republic.
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“Compelling
evidence
” shows that Russian paramilitaries supporting the power in the Central African Republic have committed “
serious abuses
” against civilians there, including murder and torture, “
with complete impunity
” since 2019. This is what Human Rights believes .
Watch (HRW) in a report published this Tuesday, May 3.
For Lewis Mudge, Central Africa director for the organization, there is no doubt about the origin of these armed men, even if their activities in the country are still very vague.
"
Central Africans are very capable of distinguishing between foreign forces from another country such as France, for example, and forces who speak Russian, who circulate with Russian vehicles, who wear the same uniforms as the Russian soldiers who are in Bangui or good at Berengo
", he explains, at the microphone of
Sebastien Nemeth
.
Evidence from Western governments and the UN
The report clearly establishes a link, based on "
evidence
" put forward by Western governments and UN experts, between these "
Russian forces
" and Wagner, who according to him has "
clear links with the Russian government
".
“
The most serious crime that we have documented was a mass summary execution on July 28, 2021 north of the city of Bossangoa in broad daylight and against people who were not armed.
We documented a dozen deaths, it could be a war crime
, ”said Lewis Mudge.
►Also read: The influence of Russian mercenaries Wagner in the Central African Republic
“
Apart from that, we have documented several cases of detention, torture in Alindao, in Basse-Kotto, in a military camp which was run by Russians, armed, circulating with the national forces.
»
Asked by HRW on the accusations of the report, neither the Central African government nor the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs took action, according to the NGO.
"
We asked questions to the Central African government and of course the Russian government, and so far we have not had their answer,
" he continues.
Russia consistently claims that Russian paramilitaries are “
unarmed military instructors
” responsible for training Central African soldiers.
A civil war that has waned
The Central African Republic, one of the poorest countries in the world, has been the scene since 2013 of a very deadly civil war at the start, but which has considerably decreased in intensity since 2018. President Faustin-Archange Touadéra, however, called for the end of 2020 Moscow to the rescue of a weak and helpless army to repel a rebel offensive that threatened Bangui and the regime.
Hundreds of Russian paramilitaries, "
mercenaries
" from the private security company Wagner, according to the UN and from Western capitals, have been sent to reinforce hundreds of others who have already supported the regime since 2018. Thanks to them, the armed groups, rebels or simple predators, have been repelled from a majority of two-thirds of the territory they still occupied in 2020.
But the UN, the European Union and countries, such as France in particular,
accuse Wagner's "
mercenaries
"
of committing crimes and abuses against civilians, and the power of Faustin-Archange Touadéra to let them plunder the resources of the countries in exchange for their military support.
(
with
AFP)
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