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        Amnesty: Peacekeepers Failed to Prevent Ethnic Cleansing in CAR

   by VOA News

   Rights group Amnesty International said peacekeepers in the Central
   African Republic did not deploy quickly enough to western parts of the
   country to protect Muslim civilians from "ethnic cleansing" by the
   mostly Christian "anti-Balaka" militias.
   In a [1]report released Wednesday, the group said it documented
   large-scale, repeated attacks on Muslims since the beginning of the
   year, with the violence forcing entire communities to flee.
   The report notes that some of the attacks were reprisals for
   anti-Christian violence committed by Muslim Seleka fighters, who
   continue to assault Christians "at every opportunity."
   Amnesty said French and African peacekeepers have likely prevented more
   large-scale killings, but that their failure to disarm the Seleka and
   anti-Balaka forces has left Muslim civilians vulnerable to attacks.
   The group wants to see peacekeepers deployed to more areas where
   civilians need protection.
   More than 5,000 African troops and 1,600 from France are working in the
   C.A.R. under a United Nations mandate. The European Union has agreed to
   send about 500 troops as well.
   U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the EU on Tuesday to
   accelerate that deployment, and asked for France and other countries to
   send more troops.
   He said the international community's response "does not yet match the
   gravity of the situation," and that more must be done to prevent
   atrocities, restore order and protect civilians.
   Ban warned that the sectarian violence is "changing the country's
   demography," putting the country at risk of becoming divided into
   parts.
   Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Edmund Mullet
   is traveling to the C.A.R. this week to discuss with African Union
   representatives the possibility of converting the African-led force
   into a U.N. peacekeeping operation.
   Ban reported to the Security Council in November that a U.N. mission
   could deploy up to 9,000 peacekeepers and 1,700 police to help
   stabilize the country and protect civilians.
   Last March, the Muslim Seleka rebel movement overthrew President
   Francois Bozize. Much of the violence in the C.A.R. since then has been
   between ex-Seleka fighters and the anti-Balaka militias.
   The U.N. humanitarian agency said nearly 900 people have been killed in
   Bangui alone since violence escalated in early December. The U.N. also
   said more than 800,000 people have been displaced.
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   [2]http://www.voanews.com/content/amnesty-peacekeepers-failed-to-preven
   t-ethnic-cleansing-in-car/1849583.html

References

   1. https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/alfrescotemporary/AI_CAR+report_Feb2014.pdf
   2. http://www.voanews.com/content/amnesty-peacekeepers-failed-to-prevent-ethnic-cleansing-in-car/1849583.html