HRC59: Oral statement during oral update with the Independent Expert on the Central African Republic

Item 10: Oral update with the Independent Expert on the Central African Republic

Speaker:Jonathan de Leyser

Thank you, Mr President,

CSW thanks the Independent Expert for his oral update.

We are deeply concerned by recent cycles of violence and unrest in Zemio Town in the Haut-Mbomou Prefecture, where the deaths of two young Fulani men and the disappearance of four others in March this year, sparked widespread tensions, resulting in attacks on government officials and UN peacekeepers, and a sharp rise in hate speech against Muslims and the Fulani ethnic group.

While we commend steps taken by the Mayor of Zemio to encourage dialogue between the various communities, we emphasise that the worrying levels of ethnic and religious hate speech must be addressed decisively, as they foster intolerance and often precipitate acts of violence.

We urge the government of CAR to take concrete action to protect all civilians, and to work towards disarming and demobilising the armed groups operating in the country to ensure the right to life and security of all citizens.

We remain concerned by reports indicating gross violations of human rights and humanitarian law by Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Security Group, which undermine the country’s efforts towards security, peace and reconciliation.

We call on Member States to both pressure and assist the government of CAR to ensure a thorough investigation of, and accountability for, the violations highlighted by the UN Working Group on Mercenaries.¹

We deplore the seeming rise in attacks on UN peacekeepers and urge to government to hold perpetrators accountable.

Finally, we echo the call for urgent institutional reform of CAR’s electoral authority, and appeal to the authorities to ensure upcoming local and regional elections, and the December presidential elections, are transparent and inclusive.

Thank you.

¹ United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, ‘CAR: Experts alarmed by government’s use of “Russian trainers”, close contacts with UN peacekeepers’, 31 March 2021 https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2021/03/car-experts-alarmed-governments-use-russian-trainers-close-contacts-un