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1 1 (April 5, 2019)

handle is hein.crs/govzcs0001 and id is 1 raw text is: ingresCenal RArca Sevice Crisis in the Central African Republic Congress has held hearings, appropriated aid funds, and conducted oversight in response to the situation in the Central African Republic (CAR), which has experienced state collapse and conflict since a rebel movement known as the Seleka seized control of the government in 2013. Despite a post-rebellion political transition culminating in the 2016 inauguration of a new president, Faustin Archange Touadera (a former Prime Minister who ran as an independent), security and humanitarian conditions have deteriorated. The European Union (EU), U.N., Russia, and the United States are providing support to the national military (the FACA), but state security forces remain weak and dogged by a history of abuses and militia infiltration. Competitions over mineral resources, cattle migration routes, and trade have been key drivers of conflict. Armed groups control much of the country, despite donor- backed efforts to extend state authority. In February 2019, the government and 14 armed groups signed a peace accord brokered by the African Union (AU) in Khartoum, Sudan. The new agreement-the eighth since 2013-calls for a unity government, demobilization of non-state combatants, and the creation of interim mixed security units comprising security forces and former rebels. Several groups threatened immediately to withdraw from the accord, prompting questions over its durability and impact. Prospects for full implementation-which arguably would require that armed groups relinquish control of lucrative economic interests- are tenuous. Few drivers of grassroots-level conflict have been addressed. Much of the violence in CAR has played out along ethnic and sectarian lines, driven by tensions over identity, citizenship, and exclusion. The Seleka was led by largely Muslim combatants with ties to CAR's remote northeast, and to neighboring Sudan and Chad, drawing support from communities that some in CAR view as foreign. Christian- and animist-led anti-balaka (anti-machete or anti- bullet) militias formed to fight the Seleka, but ultimately targeted Muslims in general. CAR's population was about 15% Muslim and 85% Christian or animist, but anti-balaka attacks in 2013-2014 forced much of the Muslim population in the south, center, and west to gather in small enclaves or flee to other countries or the rebel-held northeast-a pattern U.N. investigators termed ethnic cleansing. Rebel alliances have since shifted as groups have sought to gain leverage in peace talks and advance their economic interests. Some coalitions have bridged sectarian divides, underscoring the extent to which social cleavages have been instrumentalized during the conflict. Notably, some anti- balaka groups have collaborated with some ex-Seleka factions to target members of the (mostly Muslim and pastoralist) Fulani ethnic community. Several Fulani-led armed groups have emerged in response. Figure I. Central African Renublic: At a Glance Source: CRS graphic. Data from U.N. agencies, IMF, and CIA World Factbook; 2018 estimates unless otherwise noted. Humanitarian and Human Rights Conditions As of late 2018, one in five Central Africans were displaced: 580,700 as internally displaced persons (IDPs) and 591,000 as refugees in neighboring countries. Over 275,000 CAR refugees reside in Cameroon, which has faced a rise in armed banditry along its border with CAR. About half of CAR's population, 2.9 million people, reportedly need humanitarian aid, with nearly 2 million facing severe food insecurity. CAR is among the world's deadliest countries for aid workers; militia attacks on IDPs have further impeded relief efforts. The State Department's 2018 human rights report on CAR cites arbitrary killings, forced disappearances, sexual violence, harsh prison conditions, and impunity as key issues. A Special Criminal Court has been established to prosecute crimes since 2003, but it has been slow to launch. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has also opened investigations related to CAR, with the trial of two anti- balaka leaders due to open in mid-2019. The Economy CAR's development indicators are among the lowest in the world: it ranked 188th out of 189 countries on the 2018 U.N. Human Development Index. The already fragile economy collapsed with the onset of violence in 2013 and the ensuing flight of much of the Muslim population, which had previously played a key role in trade nationwide. Economic growth has recovered moderately, averaging 4.5% per year from 2015 to 2018, but this rate is insufficient to alleviate poverty significantly, and displacement and conflict continue to hinder wellbeing. In 2015, legal diamond exports formally resumed from certain areas in the southwest deemed free of armed groups by the Kimberley Process, an international certification initiative aimed at preventing diamonds that fund rebel groups from entering legal trade. Most diamonds reportedly continue to 0 April 5, 2019

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