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4.4

Central African Republic

Hopes that the 2005 elections in the Cen- Force Multinational de la Communauté Économique tral African Republic (CAR) would provide et Monétaire de l’Afrique Centrale (FOMUC) conditions for peacebuilding continued to dwindle in 2007 as renewed violence in the • Authorization Date 2 October 2002 (Libreville Summit), northern provinces of the country over- 21 March 2003 (Libreville Summit, whelmed the republic’s military and the Force Amended) Multinational de la Communauté Économique • Start Date December 2002 et Monétaire de l’Afrique Centrale (FOMUC). • Head of Mission and Brigadier-General Auguste Roger Bibaye EU and UN preparations for a multidimen- Force Commander Itandas () sional mission in and the Central African • Budget $12.5 million Republic made some progress in 2007 with the (October 2006–September 2007) authorization of UN police and EU military • Strength as of Troops: 378 missions. But tenuous peace agreements with 30 September 2007 rebel groups reached earlier in the year were disrupted by flows of refugees from Darfur and a dramatic increase in internally displaced UN Peacebuilding Support Office persons. in the (BONUCA)

• Authorization Date 10 February 2000 (S/PRST/2000/5) Background • Start Date 15 February 2000 • SRSG and Lamine Cissé () Decades of political instability in CAR reached Head of Mission a peak in 1996, when protests over unpaid • Strength as of International Civilian Staff: 26 salaries erupted into insurrections by the armed 31 October 2007 Local Civilian Staff: 50 forces against the elected government of Presi- UN Volunteers: 3 dent Ange-Félix Patassé. Fighting was fueled by regional and ethnic tensions, as well as a strug- gle to control the timber and diamond industries. Regional mediators brokered the Peace Agreement in January 1997, which was was created in February 2000, following the monitored first by the 800-strong Inter- withdrawal of MINURCA. African Mission to Monitor the Implementa- Established in 2002, FOMUC was origi- tion of the Bangui Agreements (MISAB) and nally conceived as a small observer mission subsequently by the UN Mission in the Cen- mandated to monitor the security in Bangui tral African Republic (MINURCA). The and along the Chadian border. The force is peacekeepers provided security in and around composed of troops from Gabon, the Congo, Bangui, enabling the elections that saw and Chad. Despite being unable to prevent a Patassé returned as president in September 2003 coup in which General François Bozizé 1999. The UN Peacebuilding Support Office ousted Patassé, the mission has continued in the Central African Republic (BONUCA) operating. During 2006, FOMUC refocused

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its efforts toward the unstable northern review. The Security Council adopted 1778 provinces of the country, where violence con- (2007) authorizing the deployment of the UN tinued throughout the year in review. Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT). For its part, the European Union authorized the deployment of the EU Major Developments Force in the Republic of Chad and the Central Ongoing aggression in the northern parts of African Republic (EUFOR TCHAD/RCA) on the country in 2007 was attributed to several 15 October 2007. Among other things, MIN- rebel groups, all dedicated to the overthrow of URCAT was mandated to liaise with the secu- the Bozizé government. Renewed attacks by rity services such as the army, the gendarmerie, the Armèe pour la Restauration de la Rèpub- and judicial officials in order to contribute to lique et la Dèmocratie (APRD) in the north- building sustainable peace in the Central western town of Paoua in January 2007, along- African Republic. MINURCAT’s mandate also side continuing violence in the northeast, meant includes cooperating with BONUCA and that the more than 200,000 internally dis- FOMUC to deal with existing and potential de- placed persons in the region continued to be velopments that would have negative conse- exposed to indiscriminate violence. Particu- quences on the humanitarian situation in the larly troubling were several incidents in which area. In addition to providing security to the UN and humanitarian workers were targeted, thousands of refugees and internally displaced including a hostage incident on 19 May, an at- persons, the EU Force will also provide secu- tack on a BONUCA convoy on 26 May, and rity to UN personnel and facilities. the killing of a French member of Médecins Meanwhile, diplomatic channels between sans Frontièrs by the APRD on 11 June. the government of the Central African Repub- At the outset of 2007, the UN Security lic and some rebel groups were opened at the Council reiterated its call for the establishment end of 2006 and early 2007, with the assistance of a multidimensional presence in Chad and of a Central African civil society organization, the Central African Republic. In February, the Group of the Wise. In February, the govern- Secretary-General proposed a UN mission in ment signed cease-fire agreements with two Chad and the Central African Republic, an rebel groups, the Front Démocratique pour le 11,000-strong force mandated to protect civil- Peuple Centrafricain (FDPC) and the Union ians, facilitate relationships among the coun- des Forces Démocratiques pour le Rassemble- tries in the region, and monitor human rights ment (UFDR). However, the relative calm that violations in eastern Chad and the northern followed these agreements was soon disrupted area of the Central African Republic. But this by the arrival of approximately 3,000 Sudanese proposal ran into trouble when the Chadian nationals fleeing heavy fighting in Darfur in government failed to consent to the deploy- May 2007. Over 26,000 Central African Re- ment of UN troops on its territory. Subse- public refugees also spilled over into neighbor- quently, a compromise was reached, paving the ing Cameroon during the year, highlighting the way for authorization for the deployment of wider threat to the region posed by the contin- UN police personnel and EU troops, which had uing conflict, and the urgency of the coordi- still not happened at the end of the year in nated UN-EU deployments.