France and the UN Are Trying to Save the Central African Republic from Genocide

Fighting erupted in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic on Thursday, according to CNN and AP, leaving dozens of casualties and posing the biggest threat yet to the new government. The attacks came at the moment that the UN Security Council was meeting to vote on deploying an intervention force to prevent a bloodbath and to relieve the French force that was deployed last week to try to stabilize the deteriorating situation. There were 16 deaths and 45 wounded today, according to Sylvain Groulx of Doctors Without Borders. The death count, reported by AP, was based on bodies taken to two hospitals and there could be many more bodies not yet accounted for. The attack marked the first time Seleka opponents have attacked multiple parts of the capital at the same time. The homes of the president and prime minister were looted. People hid indoors and some sought sanctuary in a church. By afternoon, the streets were empty, except for military vehicles and 4x4 trucks favored by the rebel soldiers, who claim took control of the government last March. The fighting is between these Seleka Moslem fighters who control the poor nation and Christians who support its ousted president. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius warned that CAR is on "the verge of genocide," which the French compare to Ruanda, saying it is not a terrorist situation like Mali. As the fighting subsided, many people with gunshot wounds lay on the floors and wooden benches in nearby hospitals, waiting to see a doctor. Meanwhile, in New York, the United Nations Security Council unanimously voted on Thursday to authorize troops from the African Union and former colonial power France to enter the CAR. The Security Council also established an arms embargo. The UN will send a peacekeeper force and a mission to determine what needs to be done to save the country. Fabius said military intervention would be swift following the Security Council vote, telling French TV that the French deployment would total around 1,200, with 600 troops already in place, according to Fabius. Prime Minister Nicholas Tiangaye confirmed his house was looted, describing the attackers as a Seleka group who arrived in three 4x4 pickups, adding that his family was evacuated beforehand and was safe. Babacar Gaye, the UN special representative for the Central African Republic, appealed for calm in a joint statement from the UN, European Union, the African Union and France. ~~~~~ Seleka is a mixed bag coalition, mostly Moslem, that organized a year ago with the goal of bringing down President Francois Bozize after a decade in power. After Seleka besieged Bangui in March, Bozize fled and the insurgents installed their leader Michel Djotodia as president. Djotodia has distanced himself from Seleka, which is being blamed for hundreds of atrocities in Bangui, including killing and raping civilians and stealing from aid groups and orphanages. Djotodia has very little control in rural provinces where Seleka human rights abuses led to the formation of the Christian anti-balaka movement several months ago. Balaka means "machete." While the anti-balaka fighters include villagers who simply try to defend their homes against Seleka attacks with primitive hunting rifles and machetes, some anti-balaka groups are believed to be receiving support from Bozize allies. But, anti-balaka fighters also have been implicated in massacres on Moslem civilian populations, which also have suffered under the Seleka regime and say they are being unfairly blamed for Seleka's wanton destruction. An attack earlier this week, blamed on Christian fighters, killed a dozen women and children in a remote village. ~~~~~ Dear readers, the UN Security Council resolution authorizes the deployment of an African Union-led force to Central African Republic for a year to protect civilians and restore security and public order. The AU force is replacing a regional peacekeeping mission whose presence has been limited to Bangui and some other cities. The resolution also authorizes French forces, for a temporary period, "to take all necessary measures" to support the AU-led force known as MISCA, whose troop numbers are expected to rise from about 2,500 to 3,500. The world turned away from what it suspected was happening in Ruanda when tribal hatreds turned murderous. The result was the genocide of millions of Ruandans, with trials for crimes against humanity of the perpetrators still going on. Today, the world has the opportinity to try to prevent a similar genocide in Central African Reupublic. France has led the way. The UN Security Council has formalized the determintion to save CAR. Now, it is up to us to follow the events in CAR and remind our governments, in Congess in America and other representatives around the world, to keep up the pressure on all sides in CAR - to stop the killing, to negotiate, to prevent yet another African genocide.