Central African Republic

Local militias known as anti-balaka, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), and the Front populaire pour la renaissance de la Centrafrique (FPRC), Mouvement patriotique pour la Centrafrique (MPC), and Union pour la paix en Centrafrique (UPC) as part of the former Séléka coalition, are all listed in the annexes of the Secretary-General’s (SG) 2023 annual report (S/2023/363) on children and armed conflict (CAAC) for various grave violations against children. In February, the SG will report on the situation in CAR, per SCR 2709 (2023). According to the SG’s October report (S/2023/769), the UN documented a 294 percent increase in grave violations between June and October 2023. This increase was primarily the result of the “high number of self-demobilized children formerly associated with Retour, réclamation et réhabilitation, FPRC, and UPC.” Humanitarian access continued to face challenges, including in areas where military operations took place and due to explosive ordnance. The Security Council should:

• Demand that all parties uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law (IHL) and human rights law (IHRL), and that all parties allow and facilitate the safe, timely, and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance to affected populations, especially children; and call on signatories of the Political Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation in CAR to uphold their commitments, especially those pertaining to children;
• Call for all parties to end and prevent grave violations against children, including by engaging with the UN to sign and implement action plans to end and prevent all six grave violations against children; urge the MPC, FPRC, and UPC to fully and swiftly implement their respective action plansand release all children still in their ranks;
• Ensure allocation of sufficient capacity in MINUSCA’s child protection unit to fully deliver on its child protection mandate, per SCR 2709 (2023);
• Call on the Government to fully implement all aspects of the Child Protection Codeand to ensure perpetrators of grave violations are held accountable and that child survivors of sexual violence have access to comprehensive, gender-sensitive, and age-appropriate response systems and services, and strengthen preventive measures, including through the adoption of a prevention plan; encourage the Government to appoint child protection focal points in the armed forces and establish effective measures in cooperation with the UN to end and prevent grave violations by National Defense Forces and other security personnel, including through the adoption of a national prevention plan;
• Urge the adoption and implementation of a handover protocol to facilitate the release of children to civilian child protection actors, prioritizing their reintegration in line with the Paris Principles and Commitments, which the Government has endorsed.

FRANCE IS THE SECURITY COUNCIL PENHOLDER ON CAR. 

This information is based on Watchlist’s Children and Armed Conflict Monthly Update – February 2024.

In January, the SG published his sixth report on the situation of CAAC in CAR (S/2024/93), covering the period from July 2021 to June 2023. During this time, the Country Task Force on Monitoring and Reporting (CTFMR) verified 1,432 grave violations against 1,046 children (674 boys, 372 girls), a decrease compared to the previous report which is likely due to access restrictions and a lower number of children separated from armed groups associated with the Coalition des patriotes pour le changement (CPC), rather than an overall decrease in grave violations. Recruitment and use was the most prevalent grave violation, followed by abduction and rape and other forms of sexual violence. Armed groups were responsible for around 75 percent of grave violations, while Government Forces, other security personnel and pro-government proxies were responsible for 20 percent of grave violations. Eleven boys detained for alleged association with armed groups were released during the reporting period, as well as an additional 46 boys who had been detained in previous years. Children were killed primarily by gunshots, followed by explosive ordnance. The number of child casualties due to use of indiscriminate explosive ordnance increased by 280 percent during the reporting period, and such use also impeded the delivery of humanitarian aid. While attacks on schools and hospitals decreased by 50 percent as compared to the previous reporting period, cases of abduction increased two-fold. The Working Group should:

• Strongly condemn all grave violations against children in CAR and demand that all parties to conflict fully uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law (IHL) and human rights law (IHRL); to allow and facilitate the safe, timely, and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance to affected populations, especially children; and to immediately end and prevent all grave violations against children;
• Call for all parties to conflict to engage with the UN to sign and implement action plans to end and prevent all six grave violations against children; urge the Front populaire pour la renaissance de la Centrafrique, Mouvement patriotique pour la Centrafrique, and Union pour la paix en Centrafrique to fully and swiftly implement their respective action plans to end and prevent grave violations and release all children still in their ranks;
• Welcome the Government’s steps toward a national prevention plan of grave violations against children, as well as the draft protocol for the handover of children allegedly associated with armed groups, and call for swift finalization and implementation of these tools as well as the 2020 Child Protection Code;
• Welcome steps toward increasing accountability for grave violations against children, including rape and other forms of sexual violence, and ensure all children have access to gender-sensitive, age-appropriate, disability-inclusive comprehensive and non-discriminatory child protection services, including specialized services for child survivors of gender-based violence;
• Call on all parties to immediately cease attacks on schools and education personnel and to take concrete measures to mitigate and avoid the military use of schools, pursuant to SCR 2601 (2021); encourage the Government to uphold its commitments under the Safe Schools Declaration.

This information is based on Watchlist’s Children and Armed Conflict Monthly Update – April 2024.

Year listed: 2007
Action Plans signed: UFDR – recruitment and use of children (June 2007); Mouvement Patriotique pour la Centrafrique – recruitment and use, killing and maiming, rape and other forms of sexual violence, and attacks on schools and hospitals (June 2018); Front Populaire pour la Renaissance de la Centrafrique – recruitment and use of children, killing and maiming, rape and other forms of sexual violence, and attacks on schools and hospitals (July 2019); l’Unité pour la paix en Centrafrique – recruitment and use of children, killing and maiming, rape and other forms of sexual violence, and attacks on schools and hospitals (August 2019)
Previous Action Plans: APRD – recruitment and use of children (October 2011) *Party ceased to exist; CPJP – recruitment and use of children (November 2011) *Party ceased to exist
Sanctions Committee: The Central African Republic Sanctions Committee (Current Chair: Niger)
Secretary-General’s reports on CAAC in CAR: 2021; 2019; 2016; 2011; 2009
Security Council Working Group conclusions on CAR: 2020; 2016; 2011; 2009
UN Mission: MINUSCA