The UN expert group on mercenaries is sounding the alarm about serious “human rights violations” that can be attributed to Russian paramilitaries in the Central African Republic, and experts condemn the authorities’ increased use of private security companies in Bangui, which has been the target of a new uprising since December. They also deplore the “close contacts” that the Central African Army and in some cases the UN peacekeepers in the country have with these companies.
This Monday, Russia’s ambassador to the Central African Republic, Vladimir Tirorenko, reassured the press that the reinforcements Moscow sent to the country in December to fight the insurgency were “instructors”, “mostly former Russian army officers”, who “did not take part in the fighting”, except “if they are targeted”.
But the statement, released on Wednesday by the UN mercenary working group, undermines this version, which is already much debated elsewhere. “We have identified three actors who sometimes engage in hostilities and offer their services” to the Government of the Central African Republic, assures Jelena Aparac, rapporteur for this independent group of experts investigating under the special procedures of the Human Rights Council. United Nations: Sewa Security Services, a Russian private security company, “Lobaye Invest SARLU”, a Russian mining company, registered in the Central African Republic since 2017 and operating in the sub-prefecture of Boda, as well as the private military company Russian “Wagner”, also stationed in Syria, in the Ukrainian Dombass, in Libya or even in Sudan, and recently during the battle of a complaint in Moscow for a possible “war crime”. “We were able to create a link between these three companies and their participation in a series of violent attacks that have occurred since the presidential election on December 27, 2020,” continues Jelena Aparac.
The list of “serious violations of human rights” that “can be attributed to them”, according to the experts’ press release, is long: “mass executions, arbitrary detentions, torture during interrogation, forced disappearances, forced relocation of civilians, indiscriminate focus on civilian facilities, violations the right to health and increasing attacks on humanitarian actors. “
The full report of the UN mercenary working group remains confidential. But “we have carried out an in-depth investigation and are acting on very solid documentation and sources”, the rapporteur assures. The details of these investigations were sent to relevant actors who have sixty days to respond. It is only after this period that more accurate information will be published.
According to the British newspaper The Guardian, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is investigating in particular an incident that occurred in December: Russian soldiers and Faca are alleged to have set fire to a vehicle that did not stop at a checkpoint in Ouaka prefecture, killing three people and injured fifteen.
In addition to these allegations, the UN Working Group is concerned about the lack of “clarity” about the presence of these companies and paramilitary actors, along with the Central African Armed Forces. “We want to understand what their status is and the legal basis on which they operate, but also what measures the authorities have taken to protect civilians from their presence. We ask the government to clarify all this, Jelena Aparac explains.
Experts also question Minusca’s responsibility. They are concerned about the “close contact” “that these companies and their staff maintain with the UN peacekeepers.” As an example of this “proximity”, they evoke “coordinated meetings in the presence of Russian advisers, including in Minusca bases”, as well as “medical evacuation” of wounded belonging to these companies.
In a survey published in February, the daily relief pointed out in particular the presence at one of these “security meetings” for a certain Dmitry Sergeevich Sytii, presented as “the founder of Lobaye Invest” – one of the three companies. Indexed by UN experts – and since September last year under US sanctions, “the newspaper recalled” largest contributor to funding peacekeeping missions “.
In a reply published the next day, Minusca denied the existence of “direct contact between Minusca’s leadership and the” paramilitaries “and justified the presence of its Special Representative Mankeur Ndiaye at the said meeting by declaring that he had responded to a” Government Invitation “” out of courtesy “” without try to find out “who” the other guests were “. Shortly after, according to our information, the holding of these coordination meetings ended.
UN experts qualify as “worrying” about the “confusion and lack of transparency about the role” played on the spot by these various actors. “Because of the operations that are organized and carried out jointly between the maintenance mission peace with the Central African Army. The Republic, as it engages these companies, and there are many risks, especially since the UN does not control these companies,” confirms Jelena Aparac.
“This lack of distinction between civilian, military and peacekeeping operations under hostilities creates confusion regarding legitimate targets and increases the risk of widespread human rights and humanitarian law violations,” the experts also wrote in their report. It is urgent, they say, to clarify the role of “international partners and the obligation to report to create lasting peace and stability in the Central African Republic”.
Finally, the working group regrets “the lack of investigations as well as the lack of determination to identify those responsible for these abuses”, while in Bangui very little information is filtered from the operating theater, where journalists and aid workers are restricted by the authorities.
At the request of RFI, Minusca had neither responded to this press release on Wednesday, nor to the Russian embassy in the country. On his Twitter account, on the other hand, he condemned “unfounded accusations” and “unacceptable” against “Russian instructors who formed the army in CAR” as part of an “agreement on technical and military cooperation between CAR and Russia”. Recently, COSI officially presents itself as an “organization representing the interests of these instructors”, but the embassy of the Russian Federation claims to have “never heard of it”.
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