A UN expert on human rights in the Central African Republic (CAR), Yao Agbetse, on Wednesday called for the cooperation of the Central African state in swiftly executing the arrest warrant against former President François Bozizé and bringing justice to the victims of his heinous crimes and serious human rights violations. The arrest warrant was issued on April 30 by CAR’s Special Criminal Court against Bozizé for crimes committed between February 2009 and March 2013 by his presidential guard and internal security services in the civilian prison and military training center in the town of Bossembélé between 2009 and 2013. These include the crimes of murder, enforced disappearance of persons, imprisonment or other forms of deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental provisions of international law, and practices of torture and inhuman acts; not to mention the crimes of rape or other forms of sexual violence of comparable gravity and other inhuman acts of a similar nature intentionally causing great suffering or serious injury to body or to physical or mental health. “I appeal to the Central African authorities to mobilize the intelligence services, the defense forces and the internal security forces to execute the arrest warrant, and I ask for the support of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) in this regard,” said Agbetse. He also asked for the collaboration of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, where ex-President François Bozizé resides, and the cooperation of all the Central African Republic’s neighboring states. Furthermore, the Expert urged “the African Union, as architect and guarantor of the APPR-RCA (Political Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation in the Central African Republic), to mobilize its Peace and Security Council and the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) to activate and intensify its actions with its partners, including AFRIPOL, to ensure that the suspect is brought before the court to answer the charges against him”. He also encouraged the UN Security Council, which has placed Mr. Bozizé on its sanctions list, to support the rapid execution of the arrest warrant for the former President. “In the Central African Republic, all the perpetrators and accomplices of serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, including war crimes and crimes against humanity, will sooner or later answer before the courts,” he maintained. He warned against any obstruction of the execution of the arrest warrant, whether national, sub-regional or international in origin, and by any entity whatsoever. This obstruction must be “considered an obstacle to the fight against impunity, an attack on the peace and reconciliation process and a denial of justice for its victims”, he continued, adding that “any person or entity responsible for or complicit in such acts of obstruction would be considered an enemy of peace and reconciliation in CAR”. #OMA #OrganisationMarocAfrikaCulturesetDéveloppement #NajibKettani #Juridique #ONU #YaoAgbetse #RCA #FrançoisBozize #MandatDArret
