COMPARATIVE STUDY OF TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE IN AFRICA CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC NIAGALE BAGAYOKO 2018 Page 1 of 57 African Comparative Transitional Justice the Central African Republic Table of Content Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................ 5 1. Colonial factors ................................................................................................................................................... 5 1.1 Pre-colonial society ...................................................................................................................................... 6 1.2. ........................................................................................................................................................................ 7 Colonial society: The Oubangui-Chari Province of French Equatorial Africa (AEF) ................................ 7 Economic exploitation .................................................................................................................................. 8 Defining characteristics of CAR’s colonial experiences ............................................................................. 8 Violence under colonial rule ......................................................................................................................... 8 Justice under colonial rule ........................................................................................................................... 10 1.3 End of colonisation: 1960 ......................................................................................................................... 10 1.4 Path dependencies ................................................................................................................................. 11 2. ............................................................................................................................................................................. 14 Conflict factors: ..................................................................................................................................................... 14 2.1. CAR’s main conflicts since independence .............................................................................................. 15 Predation and criminalisation of state (Dacko-Bokassa - Dacko) ........................................................... 15 The ethnicization of the State and of the military ..................................................................................... 16 International interventions: The MISAB, the MINURCA and the BONUCA ..................................... 17 2.2. Conflict under consideration: the cycle of violence between 2001 and 2011 ...................................... 17 The coup attempt of May 2001 .................................................................................................................. 18 Bozizé’s seizure of power and elections (2003-2005) ............................................................................... 18 Influence of the regional actors .................................................................................................................. 19 Emergence of Central African rebel groups .............................................................................................. 19 The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in the CAR....................................................................................... 21 Internal insecurity : The "zaraguinas" ........................................................................................................ 21 The Central African Armed forces ............................................................................................................. 22 Page 2 of 57 Gender dimensions of violations ................................................................................................................ 22 Regional and international interventions ................................................................................................... 23 Bozizé reelection (2011) .............................................................................................................................. 23 2.3 Path dependencies ...................................................................................................................................... 24 Social and societal grievances ...................................................................................................................... 24 State, conflicts and hybridity ....................................................................................................................... 24 Continuities and discontinuities with the colonial experience ................................................................. 26 3. Transitional and societal factors ...................................................................................................................... 26 3.1. Political settlement .................................................................................................................................... 27 The National Dialogue (Dialogue national) : 2003 ................................................................................... 27 The DDR process ........................................................................................................................................ 28 The « Etats généraux de la Justice » (2007) ................................................................................................ 29 The National Seminar on security sector reform/SSR (April 2008) ...................................................... 30 Libreville Comprehensive Peace Agreement (2008) ................................................................................. 31 The amnesty law of October 2008 ............................................................................................................. 32 All-Inclusive Political Dialogue (Dialogue politique inclusive) : Décembre 2008) ................................ 33 The ICC in the CAR .................................................................................................................................... 34 The CAR and the Peacebuilding Commission .......................................................................................... 35 The European Union ................................................................................................................................... 36 3.4 Economic performances............................................................................................................................ 36 3.5. Strength and role of civil society .............................................................................................................. 36 3.6. Role of women in the transitional process.............................................................................................. 37 3.7. International Human Rights Convention in the CAR at the beginning of the transition .................. 37 3.8. National legal framework.......................................................................................................................... 37 3.9. Intra and inter-group relationships and State of nation-building ......................................................... 38 3.10. Pre-transition and post-transition political elites .................................................................................. 39 4. Choices in Transitional Justice ........................................................................................................................ 39 4.1. Policy considerations................................................................................................................................. 40 4.2. Policy mechanisms .................................................................................................................................... 40 4.3. Critiques from civil society and political opponents and media coverage ........................................... 42 4.4 TJ Policy implementation .......................................................................................................................... 42 5. Determinant of TJ Policies .............................................................................................................................. 43 5.1. Institutions already in place ...................................................................................................................... 43 A destroyed judicial system ......................................................................................................................... 43 Delegitimized traditional authorities and leaders ...................................................................................... 44 5.2. Economic constraints on TJ policy choices and international pressure .............................................. 44 5.3. Political threats .......................................................................................................................................... 44 5.4. Reference to pre-colonial and colonial history ....................................................................................... 44 Page 3 of 57 6. Effectiveness of implemented transitional justice policies ..........................................................................