The special court responsible for judging serious human rights violations in the Central African Republic has taken up the investigation for war crimes and against humanity opened for the recent murder of at least 21 civilians in the northeast, a- she announced Friday. On April 29, 28 people, including at least 21 civilians, were killed in Ndélé, according to the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic (Minusca), which spoke of fighting between two rival factions of one of the main rebel groups, the Popular Front for the renaissance of the Central African Republic (FPRC).
More than two-thirds of this poor Central African country, plagued by a civil war since 2013, is in the hands of a multitude of rebel armed groups, and civilians are often the targets of their crimes or the collateral victims of their clashes.
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On Thursday, the Bangui attorney general, Eric Didier Tambo, announced the opening of an investigation, in particular for "war crimes and crimes against humanity" . "The Special Criminal Court (CPS) will investigate the events of Ndélé," Nelly Mandengue, of the communication service of this jurisdiction, told AFP on Friday. The Bangui public prosecutor's office had asked to be divested for the benefit of the CPS, confirmed in a statement the deputy prosecutor of the CPS, Alain Ouaby Bekai.
This special tribunal, created by decree in 2015 and inaugurated in October 2018, is made up of Central African and international judges, but its ongoing investigations have not yet resulted in any trial. Its mandate is precisely to investigate, investigate and try those responsible for serious human rights violations, assures Mr. Bekai.
A presidential election is still scheduled for late December, but clashes between rebel factions or between rebels and government forces, as well as abuses against civilians, continue.
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