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I. Background—Violence in the Central African Republic, P HUMAN RIGHTS “They Said We Are Their Slaves” Sexual Violence by Armed Groups in the Central African Republic WATCH “They Said We Are Their Slaves” Sexual Violence by Armed Groups in the Central African Republic Copyright © 2017 Human Rights Watch All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 978-1-6231-35256 Cover design by Rafael Jimenez Human Rights Watch defends the rights of people worldwide. We scrupulously investigate abuses, expose the facts widely, and pressure those with power to respect rights and secure justice. Human Rights Watch is an independent, international organization that works as part of a vibrant movement to uphold human dignity and advance the cause of human rights for all. Human Rights Watch is an international organization with staff in more than 40 countries, and offices in Amsterdam, Beirut, Berlin, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Goma, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Nairobi, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto, Tunis, Washington DC, and Zurich. For more information, please visit our website: http://www.hrw.org OCTOBER 2017 ISBN: 978-1-6231-35256 “They Said We Are Their Slaves” Sexual Violence by Armed Groups in the Central African Republic Map .................................................................................................................................... I Summary and Key Recommendations ................................................................................. 1 Methodology .................................................................................................................... 30 Terminology ........................................................................................................................... 31 I. Background—Violence in the Central African Republic ................................................ 33 International Intervention ....................................................................................................... 38 Lack of Accountability ............................................................................................................. 39 Sexual Violence in the Conflict ................................................................................................ 41 II. Sexual Violence against Women and Girls by Armed Groups ....................................... 45 Sexual Slavery and Forced Labor ............................................................................................ 46 Rape...................................................................................................................................... 62 III. Impact of Sexual Violence ........................................................................................... 89 Stigma and Rejection ............................................................................................................. 89 Physical and Psychological Trauma ......................................................................................... 93 Loss of Livelihoods and Access to Education ......................................................................... 101 IV. Access to Services for Survivors of Sexual Violence ...................................................104 Barriers to Medical and Psychosocial Services ...................................................................... 105 V. Access to Justice ...................................................................................................... 123 Barriers to Justice for Sexual Violence ................................................................................... 125 Special Criminal Court .......................................................................................................... 143 International Criminal Court .................................................................................................. 146 V. Legal Obligations of the Central African Republic ..................................................... 148 International Humanitarian and Criminal Law ........................................................................ 148 International Human Rights Law ........................................................................................... 153 Right to Health ........................................................................................................................ 157 Regional Human Rights Law .................................................................................................. 160 National Law ........................................................................................................................ 162 Recommendations ........................................................................................................... 165 To the Seleka and Anti-Balaka Leadership ............................................................................ 165 To the Office of the President of the Central African Republic ................................................. 165 To the Parliament ................................................................................................................. 166 To the Ministry of Justice ....................................................................................................... 166 To the Ministry of Health ....................................................................................................... 167 To the UN Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) ................................................ 168 To the United Nations Security Council .................................................................................. 169 To the African Union Commission.......................................................................................... 169 To the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights and the African Union Special Envoy on Women, Peace and Security ............................................................................................. 169 To MINUSCA Human Rights Division, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), and UN Women ................................................................. 170 To Nongovernmental Organizations Providing Services to Survivors of Sexual Violence .......... 171 To the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, and the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women ......................................................... 171 To the European Union, Governments of France, the Netherlands, the United States, and Other International Donors .............................................................................................................. 171 To the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court ............................................................. 172 Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................... 173 Map I HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | OCTOBER 2017 SUMMARY AND KEY RECOMMENDATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | OCTOBER 2017 SUMMARY Since late 2012, the Central African Republic has been wracked by bloody armed conflict in which civilians have paid the price. Armed groups have brazenly violated the laws of war with impunity, attacking civilians and civilian infrastructure, and leaving trails of death, displacement, and destitution in what was already one of the world’s poorest countries. During nearly five years of conflict, armed groups have also brutalized women and girls. The predominantly Muslim Seleka and the largely Christian and animist militia known as “anti-balaka,” two main parties to the conflict, have both committed sexual slavery and rape across the country. Human Rights Watch documented fighters using sexual violence to punish women and girls, frequently along sectarian lines, as recently as May 2017. People displaced by the fighting wait on the road to Lere for humanitarian aid to arrive. © 2014 Marcus Bleasdale for Human Rights Watch Armed groups have not simply committed sexual violence as a byproduct of fighting, but, in many cases, used it as a tactic of war. Commanders have consistently tolerated sexual violence by their forces and, in some cases, they appear to have ordered it or to have committed it themselves. Though it continues to haunt women and girls physically, emotionally, socially, and economically, sexual violence— like other conflict-related crimes—has thus far gone unpunished. To date, no member of an armed group has been arrested or tried for committing sexual slavery or rape. Nalia (all survivors’ names have been changed), 38, said that more than 20 anti-balaka fighters came to her house in Bangui in February 2014 while she was having breakfast with her husband and five children. “We came because of the Muslims,” she heard the armed men say. The anti-balaka then tried to take Nalia and her 14-year-old son away, saying, “Since you are a little Muslim, we are going to bring you with your mother.” When her son resisted, she recalled, the anti- balaka shot him in the back. The fighters took Nalia to their nearby base, where four of them raped her. “They took everything from me,” she said. “My 14-year-old boy, they killed. Everything was pillaged from my home. I didn’t have anything left.” After the rape, Nalia began falling sick regularly. When she eventually sought medical care, in May 2015, she tested positive for HIV. She has now started a community association to help women survivors of sexual violence get medical care and
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