Central African Republic: UN Report Calls For Accountability For Attacks By Armed Groups Active In Haut Oubangui

GENEVA/BANGUI (5 March 2025) – Armed groups, including one affiliated with the armed forces of the Central African Republic, committed grave human rights violations in the Haut Oubangui Region, in the southeastern part of the country, mainly against Muslim communities and Sudanese refugees and asylum-seekers, a UN report has found.

In two waves of attacks in the Mbomou and Haut-Mbomou prefectures, in October 2024 and in January 2025, at least 24 people were killed –some of them victims of summary execution, according to the report by the UN Human Rights Office and the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA).

The attacks were directed and coordinated by elements of Wagner Ti Azandé (WTA), an armed group with ties to the national army. WTA was originally to another armed group called Azandé Ani Kpi Gbé (Azanikpigbe), whose members were also involved in carrying out the attacks.

Among other documented violations and abuses are cases of conflict-related sexual violence against women and girls, including gang rape, forced labour, torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, as well as the looting of homes and commercial stores.

“These horrible crimes must not go unpunished. Accountability is fundamental to ensure ensuring such violations never happen again,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said. He called for the ties between the WTA group and the national army to be clarified and for full transparency regarding the group’s actions and its lawfulness. “If this is not possible, the group should be disarmed.”

Valentine Rugwabiza, Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) for the Central African Republic and Head of MINUSCA, said that despite continued efforts by the Government, with support from MINUSCA, the situation in Mbomou and Haut-Mbomou remained of particular concern.

“Failure to adequately respond to these crimes would undermine the hard-earned security gains and further erode social cohesion in areas where efforts have been made with communities to defuse tensions and promote peaceful coexistence,” she said.

In early the October, armed members of both WTA and Azanikpigbe attacked the towns of Dembia and Rafaï, in the Mbomou Prefecture, mainly targeting the Fulani community and other Muslims, as well as a camp for Sudanese refugees and asylum-seekers, according to the report.

“As soon as they arrived in Dembia, the WTA and the Azanikpigbe publicly slit the throat of a 36-year-old Fulani man, creating a climate of terror among the population,” the report says. Seven more Fulani men were tied up and thrown alive into the Ouara river.

The attackers also committed acts of sexual violence against 24 victims, among them 14 women and seven girls who were raped, mainly gang raped, the report details. Two girls and one woman were victims of forced labour, while another woman was forcibly married to an attacker. On 21 January, a dozen armed WTA members attacked a Fulani camp near Mboki, in the prefecture of Haut-Mbomou, killing at least 12 people. Following this attack, at least 14 WTA members were arrested in Mboki and Bangui.

The report underlines that the limited presence of State security forces in parts of the prefectures of Mbomou and Haut-Mbomou has created spaces for groups, such as WTA and Azanikpigbe, to be more active in a climate of impunity.

Rugwabiza and Türk urged the Central African authorities to sustain efforts to investigate the incidents and prosecute perpetrators, in line with international standards. They reiterated their readiness to work with the authorities to promote and protect human rights and fight against impunity in the Central African Republic.

To read the full report, click here: https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/countries/central-african-republic/20250304-minusca-ohchr-dembia-report.pdf

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