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1 1 (July 8, 2021)

handle is hein.crs/govedys0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional Research Service Inforring the legislative debate since 1914 Crisis in the Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR) remains beset by violence and humanitarian suffering despite international stabilization efforts, two national elections, and multiple peace processes over the past decade. Growing Russian involvement in CAR's defense and mining sectors has raised U.S. policy concerns as a potential model for Russian penetration in Africa. U.N. agencies reported in mid-2021 that 2.8 million people in CAR (over 50%) required humanitarian assistance and over 700,000 were internally displaced, while nearly 700,000 more were refugees in nearby countries. These figures have increased in recent months. The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has brought new health and economic challenges, though CAR has identified (and tested) fewer cases than many other countries. President Faustin Archange Touaddra was reelected to a second, five-year term in December 2020. He has since overseen a rapid offensive in which the national military (known as the FACA), backed by Russian security contractors, has reclaimed parts of central, eastern, and northern CAR for the first time since 2013, when northern rebel groups temporarily captured the capital, Bangui. This represents a seismic shift after years in which the central state and FACA had a minimal presence outside Bangui and a few areas in the west and south. In question is whether military gains are sustainable and likely to result in greater security for beleaguered local populations. U.N. officials have accused FACA and Russian personnel of abusing civilians and harassing U.N. staff. Armed groups reportedly retain a presence in rural areas along with some control over lucrative economic interests, such as mines and routes used for trade and cattle herding. President Touaddra launched the offensive after rebel groups formed a new alliance known as the Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC) and laid siege to Bangui, cutting off key supply routes and threatening to attack the city. Spearheaded by deposed former President Frangois Bozizd, the CPC included several armed factions that had signed CAR's latest peace accord, the 2019 African Union (AU)-brokered Khartoum Agreement. Underscoring the shifting and opportunistic dynamics of recent conflicts in CAR, several CPC faction leaders participated in the 2012- 2013 rebellion that ousted Bozize from office. The CPC emerged during election preparations in late 2020, during which CAR's constitutional court barred Bozize from running, citing U.N. sanctions and a CAR arrest warrant. Violence, alleged irregularities, and low turnout marred the election; opposition parties objected to results and withdrew from run-off legislative polls in 2021. President Touaddra has pledged dialogue with rebels and political opponents, with few concrete results. Past peace talks have granted amnesty and state posts to belligerents, arguably incentivizing CAR's cyclical conflicts. Figure 1. CAR at a Glance Source: CRS graphic. Data from CIA World Factbook, IMF. Background and Context CAR has experienced several conflicts since the 1990s. In 2013, a rebel movement known as the Seleka (coalition) ousted then-President Bozizd, who had seized power by force a decade earlier. A chaotic period of state collapse ensued. Widespread violence against and among civilians often played out along ethnic and sectarian identity lines. CAR's population was reportedly about 85% Christian or animist and 15% Muslim at the time; the Seleka was led by Muslim combatants from the northeast with ties to Sudan and Chad and drew support from local communities often portrayed by others in CAR as foreign and thus illegitimate. Aided by Bozizd, Christian- and animist-led anti-balaka (anti-machete or anti-bullet) militias formed to fight the Seleka and ultimately targeted Muslims in general. Anti- balaka attacks in 2013-2014 forced much of the Muslim population either to shelter in precarious enclaves or flee, a pattern that U.N. experts deemed ethnic cleansing. The establishment of a U.N. peacekeeping operation in 2014 and subsequent elections led to the inauguration of President Touaddra, a mathematician and former prime minister under Bozizd, in 2016. These steps helped stabilize the central government in Bangui; elsewhere in the country, ex-Seleka and anti-balaka factions continued to target civilians and each other. U.N. peacekeepers, the European Union, Russia, and the United States have provided support to the FACA, but state security forces generally remain weak and dogged by a history of abuses and militia infiltration. Competition over mineral resources, cattle migration routes, and trade has fueled the conflict. The 2019 Khartoum Agreement mandates a unity government, political decentralization, and mixed security units comprising state security forces and former rebels. Implementation has been uneven at best. Rebel alliances have repeatedly shifted as groups seek to gain leverage in ittps://crsrepor 0 July 8, 2021

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