Russian mercenaries committed atrocities in CAR: Gov’t report

Russian mercenaries committed atrocities in CAR: Gov’t report

Investigators acknowledged ‘proven incidents’ with ‘Russian instructors,’ report says

By James Tasamba

KIGALI, Rwanda (AA) - Russian mercenaries of the Wagner Group committed atrocities in the Central African Republic (CAR) as the government tried to defend itself against rebels, a new government report said Monday.

In a rare admission of excesses committed by foreign fighters, the findings were made by the special commission of inquiry set up by the government following a series of reports detailing abuses committed by rebels, the Central African Armed Forces (FACA) and their allied Russian paramilitary forces in the country under the Wagner Group.

Investigators acknowledged that there were “proven incidents” with “Russian instructors,” the report said.

The report, however, blamed the majority of the abuses on the Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC) rebels, who it said will be brought to justice, as well as Central African soldiers suspected of abuses.

In remarks to local media, Attorney General Eric Didier Tambo, who headed the Special Investigation Commission, said there is no doubt that the Russian “instructors are present within the framework of the defense agreement” signed with Moscow and “those who would have committed atrocities therefore would be prosecuted under Russian military courts.”

The findings bolster claims by the United Nations, which had said earlier this year that units from the Wagner Group were responsible for “civilian killings, gang rape and torture.”

Hundreds of Russian troops are in the central African state to back up the regime of President Faustin-Archange Touadera against rebels seeking to overthrow his government following last year’s election.

Operations involving Russian paramilitaries are reportedly going on in the country’s interior, particularly in the city of Bambari, where a curfew was recently imposed after the deaths of two government soldiers.

The latest report came on the heels of reports indicating that three Russian mercenaries were killed Saturday when their convoy was ambushed by CPC rebels in the village of Bombo in the Mambere-Kadei area in the west of the Central African Republic.

Local media reports said the clash, in which two rebels were killed and two other Wagner mercenaries were wounded, lasted several hours until a Russian helicopter arrived at the combat site.

The central African nation has been devastated by violence since 2013, when mainly Muslim Seleka rebels ousted then-President Francois Bozize, prompting reprisals from mostly Christian militias.

Last year’s presidential election was the first following the signing of a peace agreement in February 2019 between the government and 14 armed groups.

However, the December election, which saw Touadera reelected, was followed by violence.

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