A U.N. envoy has briefed the Security Council on the importance of restoring stability and rule of law in the Central African Republic (CAR) and requested the 15-member body to consider sanctions against rebel groups for gross violations of human rights. according to a press release issued Thursday.
Margaret Vogt, Special Representative for the Secretary-General, made the appeal while presenting the U.N. chief's latest report on the situation in the CAR to the Council, in which he describes the situation in CAR as "horrifying and intolerable."
The report also urges the international community to send a strong message to leaders of the Seleka rebel coalition that there is "no impunity for murder, looting, and unconstitutional changes of government." Incidentally, the Seleka rebels are accused of rape, maiming, recruitment of children and forced marriages, which constitute serious violation of international human rights and humanitarian law.
Vogt, who is also head of the Integrated Peacebuilding Office in the Central African Republic (BINUCA), said it was critical that the Council "unequivocally" pronounces itself on the need for these abuses to be stopped now and for perpetrators to be individually held accountable.
"We believe that the time is ripe for the Council to consider the imposition of individual sanctions against the architects and perpetrators of these gross violations. We do not want a desperate people to be left with no choice but to take the law into their own hands," she stressed.
Fighting flared up in CAR in December 2012 when the Seleka rebel coalition launched an offensive and seized control of the country's capital Bangui on March 24, forcing President Francois Bozize, who has been in power since 2003, to flee the country.
The leadership of Seleka forces and the CAR authorities later reached a ceasefire agreement on January 11 in Gabon capital Libreville under the auspices of the regional group known as the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS).
Under the Libreville pact, both sides agreed on a ceasefire and formation of a government of national unity in which Opposition figures were given key posts. Nonetheless, the rebels are claiming now that the government failed to live up to its obligations under the accord.
Since the Seleka rebel coalition launched the offensive in December, 1.2 million people have been cut off from essential services and human rights violations have been widespread. Besides, more than 37,000 people fled the country in the past four months due to the violence. According to the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), more than 80,000 people are estimated to be at risk of severe food insecurity between now and September.
Vogt said the FAO estimate is likely to go up as food prices rise and as farming gets disrupted during the coming lean season. Stating that the annual humanitarian appeal for the CAR, totaling $129 million, is 29 percent funded as of May 10, Vogt added that at least $42 million is required additionally to respond to the new needs triggered by the crisis.
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