MINUSCA warns against any attempt to hinder FACA movement towards Bangassou

19 Jun 2018

MINUSCA warns against any attempt to hinder FACA movement towards Bangassou

 

The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) warns armed groups, including l’Unite pour la Paix en Centrafrique (UPC) against any attempt to obstruct the military movement of the Central African Armed Forces (FACA) from Bambari to Bangassou (south-eastern part of the Central African Republic). MINUSCA believes that any further attempt to oppose FACA deployment will be considered a serious crime and the perpetrators will be held accountable.

On June 10, 2018, as part of this deployment, a convoy of the FACA, en route to Bangassou and accompanied by the peacekeepers, was fired upon at Bambari by suspected UPC elements. This attack left three wounded in the army.

The Mission recalls that, as part of its mandate, its peacekeepers whose mission is and will remain peacekeeping will continue to support the progressive deployment of the Central African Defense and Internal Security Forces throughout the country. The purpose of the deployment of the FACA to Bangassou is to secure this city and to contribute to the restauration of State authority, as well as the return of humanitarian workers and all displaced local communities.

MINUSCA calls on people living along the Bambari-Bangassou axis not to give in to manipulation aimed at diverting the objective of FACA deployment in Bangassou. The Mission specifies that the FACA military will work in close coordination with the peacekeepers to secure the area, including through joint missions. This deployment is part of the joint efforts of the Government of the Central African Republic and MINUSCA to ensure the protection of civilians and work for lasting peace and stability.

MINUSCA recalls that any act of sedition engages the criminal responsibility of its perpetrators, and that any attack on the life of a peacekeeper can be considered as a war crime and liable to prosecution by national or international justice.