Annan criticises nation's human rights record

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has criticised the Central African Republic's (CAR) human rights record in a new report.

Issued on 2 January, Annan states that serious violations of the right to life had occurred, by uniformed elements, among others. Instances of extrajudicial executions, arbitrary detentions, untimely house searches, illegal arrests and "precarious conditions" in detention had been brought to the attention of the UN Peace-Building Support office, BONUCA.

He said the human rights section of BONUCA had received numerous complaints regarding the requirement that Central Africans wishing to travel by air must receive an exit permit. The permits, issued by the Joint Commission of Judicial Inquiry, certify that people were not involved in the failed coup of May 2001.

In the area of political dialogue, the national reconciliation dialogue due to commence following the failed coup had not yet taken place, partly because of judicial investigations into the putsch, Annan said.

He described the political situation as "precarious" since May, and said it had deteriorated further in October following the removal of the country's top military official, General Francois Bozize, from his duties as chief of staff.

However, Annan encouraged President Ange-Felix Patasse's efforts to promote national reconciliation and congratulated him on the "welcome initiative" of granting a general amnesty to Bozize and his supporters. An arrest warrant had been issued against Bozize in November, following the discovery of a cache of weapons in his home.

CAR authorities alleged Bozize's involvement in a coup plot, leading to an outbreak of hostilities. Bozize fled to the southern Chadian town of Sarh with approximately 300 of his armed supporters. Since then, his supporters who remained in the CAR have had several confrontations with government forces.