{"id":370308,"date":"2017-11-10T08:57:32","date_gmt":"2017-11-10T08:57:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=370308"},"modified":"2017-11-10T08:57:32","modified_gmt":"2017-11-10T08:57:32","slug":"un-releases-central-african-republic-war-crimes-suspects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/11\/un-releases-central-african-republic-war-crimes-suspects\/","title":{"rendered":"UN releases Central African Republic war crimes suspects"},"content":{"rendered":"
The UN mission in the Central African Republic (CAR) released rebel fighters accused of shooting a UN peacekeeper, confidential documents seen by the BBC show.<\/p>\n
The two men were handed back to their commander in 2015 despite injuring the UN peacekeeper – a war crime under international law.<\/p>\n
Because the incident happened shortly before crucial elections, UN officials chose to “appease the electoral process” by “set[ing] the alleged war criminals free, handing them over”, a UN report says.<\/p>\n
This revelation is the latest blow for a peacekeeping mission\u00a0beset by problems.<\/p>\n
‘This cannot go unpunished’<\/strong><\/p>\n The incident itself took place in December 2015.<\/p>\n Four rebel soldiers belonging to a mainly Muslim militia, Union pour la Paix en Centrafrique (UPC) which translates as the Union for Peace in CAR, approached a UN checkpoint on motorcycles in the central town of Galaboroma.<\/p>\n A peacekeeper asked them to stop and told them to put their hands above their heads for a search. But instead, two of the men took out weapons and aimed at the UN troops, a confidential investigative report reveals.<\/p>\n UN soldiers shot back, killing a rebel named Junior and injuring another.<\/p>\n The remaining two rebels were arrested and transferred to the battalion headquarters in the nearby mining town of Bambari. The detained men had allegedly injured one of the UN peacekeepers.<\/p>\n Following a\u00a0previous attack against civilians and UN peacekeepers, the UN mission in CAR, known as Minusca, said: “Any attack targeting the civilian population, UN and humanitarian personnel is a war crime that can be prosecuted in accordance with Central African law and international law.”<\/p>\n For its part, the UPC denied that its troops had attacked the UN peacekeepers. “It’s false,” said UPC spokesman Souleymane Daouda.<\/p>\n