Islamic Militias in the Central African Republic

The Central African Republic is a tragic case of what happens when Islamic radicals take over a nation. Pictured: A boy rides a loaded donkey through a rural village in the Vakaga Prefecture, near Birao on August 11, 2024. (Photo by Amaury Falt-Brown/AFP via Getty Images)

The Central African Republic is a tragic case of what happens when Islamic radicals take over a nation.

Much of the international community, human rights groups and media have ignored it, but the Central African Republic (CAR) has been struggling with an ongoing war launched by Seleka, an alliance of Islamic militias fighting against the country's Christian and officially secular government.

Most of the country is today occupied by armed groups (both from within the country and foreign fighters), all of whom appear responsible for human rights abuses.

Russian mercenaries from The Wagner Group also arrived in the CAR after President Faustin-Archange Touadéra asked for help to tackle rebel groups in 2018. Wagner has since been fighting on the side of the CAR military against the Islamic militias and, while "protecting" the gold mines, has, at least for the time being, delivered "peace." However, according to the BBC:

"Ms [Nathalia] Dukhan [a senior investigator at The Sentry investigative group] says the mercenaries are waging a 'campaign of terror' and are responsible for widespread human rights abuses including extrajudicial killings, torture and rape.... Wagner has taken advantage of weak institutions and a weak army to perfect 'a blueprint for state capture.'"

The war has resulted in the displacement of thousands of Christians who have lost their livelihoods, been forced out of their homes and now to live in camps. Murders and the destruction of property and churches have become common.

Enrica Picco, the Central Africa Project Director of Crisis Group, explains:

"Ten years ago, a predominantly Muslim rebel coalition from the north east, Seleka, marched on CAR's capital Bangui, supported by thousands of Chadian and Sudanese mercenaries, without encountering any resistance. It overthrew President François Bozizé [a Christian] and launched a transition phase but failed to keep its fighters under control."

The US Department of State notes:

"Thousands of Central Africans have been displaced over the past eight years, as militias organized, in part, along religious lines, target entire communities for violence and persecution based on their religious beliefs."

Seleka leader Michel Djotodia was the nation's president from March 2013 until his resignation in January 2014.

CAR's current president, Faustin-Archange Touadera (elected in 2016 and re-elected in December 2020) has not, regrettably, been able to extend government control over the whole of the country's territory. The CAR government is currently only in control of the capital city, Bangui. Most of the rest of the country is controlled by Islamic militias. In these Muslim-dominated areas, Christians are often persecuted, especially where Sharia law is more or less officially implemented.

The Central African Republic is a majority-Christian country. The Christian population is around 3,807,000 (74.4% of the whole population). The Muslim population is 711,000 (13.9%) and people who practice African indigenous religions are 548,000 (10.7%).

Since Touadéra was elected in 2016, he has made reconciliation a priority. Although in 2019, "The Political Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation in the Central African Republic" was signed between the government and 14 armed groups, it collapsed in the run-up to the December 2020 elections, and the fighting has not yet ended.

The UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) and government security forces have also not been able to exert effective control beyond the capital city.

As a result, Christians face immense violence from occupying militia groups. Open Doors, which monitors Christian persecution on a global scale, reports:

"Currently, the breakdown of law and order has reached such a level that impunity and anarchy reign, leaving no space for Christians to practice their faith in safety. Armed militias, which occupy large swaths of the country, have been responsible for an extensive list of human rights abuses, including the burning and ransacking of church buildings."

Since the civil war started, Open Doors reports, many Christians in the CAR have been killed by Islamic militias because of their faith, as well as physically and mentally abused. Christian women and girls have been raped and sexually assaulted. Christian women and girls risk being abducted and forcibly married to Muslim men. Christian private property has been damaged or confiscated, and churches and Christian buildings attacked and closed.

"Christian leaders brave enough to speak out against this violence have faced threats to their lives, compelling many in the Christian community to flee to neighboring countries like Cameroon for safety.

"The lack of governance and the rule of law have resulted in thousands of Christians becoming internally displaced, often forcing them into makeshift camps where they lose their homes and means of livelihood....

"There are also difficulties for Christians in the eastern part of the country, bordering Sudan."

According to Open Doors, some of the abuses Christians face at the hands of Islamic members include:

• Muslim community members usually do not want to share community resources (such as healthcare) with converts to Christianity, especially in the remote northern part of the country.
• Muslim militia attack churches in the Muslim-dominated areas of the country and especially target churches that are more involved in openly integrating converts from the Muslim community.
• In areas controlled by militants, all transportation facilities are under Muslim control, making movement for Christians difficult. When violence flares up, pastors are particularly vulnerable when traveling between churches to carry out their work.
• In regions where rebel groups hold power, Christians are discriminated against and sometimes attacked, forcing them to flee home and country.
• In the Muslim-dominated north, where Seleka splinter groups operate, converts risk their lives if they own Christian materials. When Islamic fighters come into a house and find someone reading a Bible, they have been known to kill them immediately.
• In areas controlled by rebel groups, where children's parents have been killed or have been forced to flee, any children left behind remain at the mercy of the attackers. Some have been killed brutally.
• In Muslim-dominated areas, women are pressured to follow an Islamic dress code, and converts face house arrest and forced marriage to older Muslims.

Many churches have been damaged. On January 22, 2022, the Union of Evangelical Churches of the Brothers (UEEF) was the target of an armed attack from elements of the rebel group of 3R.

Years of violence and political instability in the civil war have left Christian women and young girls particularly vulnerable to rape, trafficking, abduction, and forced marriage as forms of religious persecution. Widespread sexual violence discourages parents from sending girls to school.

Christian men also face abuse or death almost daily. They are often killed or detained for their faith by radical Islamic militias:

"Pastors are especially targeted, falsely accused and even attacked during church services. Men are also discriminated against in jobs, as Islamic leaders occupy all marketplaces, control trade, impose large taxes on Christian businessmen, and even loot Christian-owned shops which can keep them in poverty. Christians are forcibly recruited into rebel militant groups, discriminated against in national military service, and targeted for torture and assault. Abduction, killing, threats and the tactical impoverishment of men greatly affects Christian families....

"There are reports indicating that there are foreign Islamic fighters in the country supporting the Ex-Séléka [Islamic] groups. As long as Ex-Séléka militia are armed and operating in the country, violent oppression will continue and the chances of peace in CAR are very unlikely," adds the Open Doors.

"The Central African Republic (CAR) is a very dangerous country for Christians (74 percent of the population)," said Ryan Brown, Open Doors US representative, in an interview with Gatestone.

"It ranks 28th on the Open Doors 2024 World Watch List, an annual ranking of the 50 most dangerous countries to follow Jesus, due to high levels of Islamic oppression, and organized crime. Anti-government militias have forced countless people from their homes, including thousands of Christians.

"There is constant instability in the CAR and in the surrounding countries. One major way the international community can help is by preventing impunity and ensuring accountability against violence in the CAR. We recommend strengthening the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic's (MINUSCA) capacity by equipping their troops for efficient identification and response to emerging threats and to ensure accountability of their operations.

"We would also like to see MINUSCA utilize transparent, independent resources such as the Office for Peacekeeping Strategic Partnership. The MINUSCA is the only UN led overseer in CAR and their presence is extremely important for the purposes of security and stability in the country.

"Impunity can also be fought by urging the CAR government to restore a formal justice system and to support local, grassroots legal training to deliver justice across all levels of society. Additionally, given the contributions made by Local Faith Actors in endeavoring to bring peace and social cohesion in the community, the International Community should integrate flexible funding opportunities into their programming to allow well-coordinated and non-partisan Local Faith Actors and Community Based Organizations in CAR to carry out their work including providing access to food, safe drinking water and essential medical supplies, locally appropriate psychological and social care, reconciliation and community-building projects amongst the internally displaced."

This devastating war and its consequences need more media coverage. Why are activists and human rights groups concerned only with the Middle East? The horrific situation in CAR and elsewhere (for instance here, here, here and here) should also serve as an urgent warning about what happens to nations when Islamic radicals are not vetted or held accountable.

Uzay Bulut, a Turkish journalist, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute.