29 October 2013 Amnesty International Amnesty International is deeply concerned about the continuing large-scale commission of serious violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law during the internal armed conflict in the Central African Republic. The armed conflict escalated in early December 2012 when Seleka, a coalition of several armed groups, launched an armed offensive against the government of former President François Bozizé. Seleka seized power on 24 March 2013 and the human rights violations have continued since. In this report, Amnesty International highlights human rights violations and abuses mainly committed by Seleka. View full report here.

18 September 2013 Human Rights Watch With the world’s attention focused on Syria, another human rights catastrophe unfolds unnoticed, in a forgotten corner of the world called Central African Republic (CAR). A ruthless rebel coalition called the Seleka has engaged in the arbitrary and rampant murder of civilians, including women, children and the elderly. Countless people there, particularly in rural areas, have fled their homes and are camped out in the bush, living in constant fear of attack by Seleka fighters. Little known outside France, its former coloniser, CAR has been bedeviled by the twin curses of poverty and misrule. Read the full article…

International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) July 2013 In the Central African Republic (hereafter CAR), armed clashes/ banditry continued to plague the north, especially the north-east, displacing residents and damaging homes. In December, the Seleka, an alliance of armed groups, took control of the north and centre of the country. The non-international armed conflict led to casualties, looting, further displacement and the temporary evacuation of most humanitarian workers. In the south-east, sporadic armed violence, skirmishes over access to grazing land, and fear of attack by armed groups, such as the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), also contributed to displacement or Read the full article…

Integrated Regional Information Networks 25 April 2013 Sporadic armed clashes, looting of orphanages, recruitment into armed groups, and widespread school closures have made life perilous for children in the Central African Republic (CAR) in the wake of a 24 March rebel coup by the Séléka alliance. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), some 2.3 million children are directly affected by the breakdown of law and order and the interruption of basic services. On 12 April, 14 children were wounded in the capital, Bangui, when a rocket-propelled grenade fell on a playing field. Two days later, a Read the full article…

IRIN, UN News Service, April 19th 2012 Pacifying the six rebel groups that hold sway across the north and northeast of the Central African Republic (CAR) is both a key component of the country’s security reform and a prerequisite for the economic development needed to end the spiral of armed conflict and criminality that has dogged the state since 1996. But funding shortfalls and the 12 January 2012 arrest of a prominent rebel leader have put the brakes on the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) process, the active phase of which got under way in August 2011. State security forces Read the full article…