Central African Republic: ten years ago, the Seleka rebellion overthrew François Bozizé

Seleka militiamen in Lioto, June 9, 2014 (illustration image). REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic

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3 min

In the Central African Republic, this month of March 2023 coincides with the ten years of the overthrow of François Bozizé by the Seleka rebellion. Already plunged into crisis, the country experienced an acceleration of violence throughout 2013 and 2014, with the creation of anti-balaka militias. This is sometimes referred to as the "third Central African civil war"; It has claimed many victims and its consequences are still strongly felt in Central African society.

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Ten years after his overthrow, former Central African leader François Bozizé has never given up on the idea of returning to power in Bangui. But his recent departure to Bissau, a new place of exile, further distances him from it. "I always rise up to fight enemies from outside and their accomplices"; for his only public communication, a few days after his arrival in Bissau in early March, François Bozizé wanted to reassure his supporters: he does not abandon the game to the Bangui authorities and Wagner's mercenaries.

Bozizé "does not fear exile

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The Central African government has nevertheless achieved success with the removal of the leader of the Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC), in negotiations with Chad, Angolan mediation and under the eye of American diplomacy. His relatives assure him: the one who has participated in many political maneuvers, putsch and mutinies for forty years, "does not fear exile"; He knew it for a good part of his life.

But, at 76 years old, what can François Bozizé still hope for? "A putschist who fails is not very valuable," said a former Central African rebel leader, according to whom François Bozizé is "a brake" on the fight against the central power, because he has "no more credibility". Not to mention that it has been under UN sanctions since 2014. However, he denied any sign of decline: "Only the leaders of the armed groups (...) have the power to decide, and until proven otherwise, there is no obligation for them to question (...) My appointment as General Coordinator " he wrote, believing that the CPC was not "decapitated" by his forced move.

MSF publishes harrowing accounts of witnesses to violence

Doctors Without Borders offers a documentary on the subject, "The Events". A set of photos and testimonies to capture the destruction and trauma caused by this crisis. "Around 9 a.m.," says Joseph, "my son, then a street vendor, was driving around the Miski district. An element of the Seleka shot him in the stomach, crushing his intestines. He was operated on by the Doctors Without Borders team. But their attempts were in vain and the child died at the age of 20."

Like Joseph's, "Les Evénements" gives fifteen stories of the Central African crisis. Physical and moral trauma, destruction of the social fabric, forced and difficult escapes, search for justice. The stories of these witnesses accompany the photographs full of humanity of the Canadian Adrienne Surprenant: "The idea was really to see how their family relationships, their families were changed, upset or were forced to evolve in a certain way because of what they had experienced."

A "latent trauma"

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Adrienne Surprenant lived in the Central African Republic. On her return, she says she felt a strong weariness in the face of the uninterrupted cycle of violence: "I think it's a place where just about everyone has either experienced, experienced or participated in a rather extreme act of violence, so it's a latent trauma for the population. I find that today there is a great weariness in the face of this ongoing conflict. And having spent two years away from the country, it was something that still struck me when I went back." The roots of crises are still very present today in CAR, their stigmata underline the necessary learning of living together.

"Les Événements ", a photographic and sound documentary by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and photographer Adrienne Surprenant.

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Read on on the same topics:

  • Central African Republic
  • François Bozizé
  • Seleka
  • Anti-balaka
  • Terrorism