The Seleka militia ("alliance" in Sango) began a spree of wide spread abuses in late 2012. Starting in the North-East of the country, the Muslim group spread throughout the country, seizing the capital Bangui in March. Former President Francois Bozize was ousted soon after this rebellion and replaced by the leader of the Seleka, Michel Djotodia.
The Central African Republic is primarily a Christian nation and therefore this sudden change led to a spread of sectarian tension throughout the country that culminated in the formation of a anti-balaka militia group ("machete proof" in Sango) consisting of Christians and animists opposed to the Seleka rule.
The Seleka abuses of the past year have been met with a similarly horrific response from anti-balaka fighters, destroying large stretches of the North-West of the country. The climax of this tension so far manifested in an anti-balaka attack on the capital on 5th December 2013. The violence that followed was significant and although the Seleka were able to repel the attack, this did not quell the bloodshed. The Seleka then proceeded to carry out a significant wave of reprisal attacks on Christians living in the capital, claiming that they were searching for anti-balaka fighters and leading to the deaths of up to 1,200 civilians.
The response from the international community has been slow, with the UN not able to commit a large scale peacekeeping mission until September 2014. A small deployment of French military forces have been deployed with the UN's mandate from December, but are still awaiting the support of the further 1,000 European troops promised under the UN mission.
Since the beginning of 2014, the Seleka President Michel Djotodia has resigned from his role and been replaced by Catherine Samba-Panza, a new interim leader.
Samba-Panza was criticised when she first took power for forming an unrepresentative government with figures largely drawn from her Eastern regions of the country. The anti-balaka's were the most vocal in their criticism of her government and had refused to cooperate with it.
The fall of former President Djotodia lead to a withdrawal of Seleka forces from many of their strongholds in outposts throughout the country. The anti-balaka militia have been quick to fill the vacuum of power left by the Seleka militias in many of the towns they have exited and have brought a wave of violence and repression onto the Muslim population in doing so.
Hundreds of Muslims have been killed, with thousands more displaced. Mosques have been destroyed and villages burnt to the ground in pursuing the anti-balaka's stated objective of ridding the country of Muslims completely.
The remains of a functional society continue to break down in the Central African Republic, with the police force and law system now almost completely obsolete, human rights violations go entirely unpunished.
It is now thought that almost 650,000 have been displaced by the violence, with many seeking refuge in neighboring countries Cameroon, Chad and Democratic Republic of Congo. Many of those that have stayed are without a home as the ritual looting and burning of houses is now commonplace.
In recent days Interim President Catherine Samba-Panza has acknowledged the need for restructure of her ministry stating, "The government will be reshuffled to be more inclusive and representative," she added in a speech to the National transitional council that "Voices are being raised to demand the urgent organisation of an inclusive political dialogue."
Pressure on Samba-Panza has begun to rise as the wider international community begin to criticise her governments record in the crisis, but although she concedes that concerns are "legitimate" she claims that the time she has had so far is not enough to effectively solve such a complex problem.
As this criticism begins to mount, representatives from the International Criminal Court (ICC) have arrived in the country to begin investigations into the crimes carried out since the violence began in 2012.
Fighting continues in earnest during this time, with new reports of deaths and atrocities surfacing every day. French forces have been engaged in one of their first instances of heavy fighting in Boguila in the North of the country, when they were locked in a three hour gun fight with unidentified militants on Tuesday. There were no French casualties as a result of the skirmish, but an army spokesperson did confirm that there were fatalities of the militants side. This action follows news from last week that 16 people were confirmed dead following a militant attack on a clinic run by the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres, which has precluded the charity to cease activity in the country.
As recently as yesterday, two more civilians were confirmed dead following militant attacks on civilian convoys trying to escape violence in the capital Bangui. The two dead were a father travelling with his family and a mother still with infant child, both were Muslims trying to escape the sectarian violence of the city. The convoy was part of the African-led international support mission to the Central African Republic (MISCA) which has been supplying military escorts to escaping displaced civilians. Among the many miles of dirt road the escorts however are spread thin, allowing such an unfortunate event to occur. The convoy had been travelling with a Rwandan escort and under the Rwandan Flag, a sobering reminder of the similar ethnic slaughter that blighted that country two decades ago is all too familiar here.
It is now predicted that 2.2 million people, almost half the countries population now require humanitarian aid. The situation continues to devolve and this has prompted UN Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon to warn "Do not repeat the mistakes of the past -- heed the lessons" encouraging memories of Rwanda and the spectre of genocide that encapsulated the conflict.
Fighting continues to worsen throughout the Central African Republic and the animosity between Christian and Muslim militants only grows. The divorce of the two sides seems to be complete and this raises the question, is there really a way back?
Until Then.
Sources:
http://news.yahoo.com/icc-team-arrives-first-mission-central-africa-173958111.html
http://www.euronews.com/2014/05/06/intense-fighting-in-the-central-african-republic-leaves-militant-gunmen-dead/
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/08/world/africa/central-african-republic-convoy/
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/06/us-centralafrica-politics-idUSBREA450PS20140506
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/qa-central-african-republic-s-human-rights-crisis-2014-04-09
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