Africa News
Central African Republic 'sliding into chaos'
Nov 28, 2006, 14:38 GMT
Geneva - A UN fact-finding mission to the Central African Republic warned Tuesday that the country was a 'tragedy in the making' on the verge of 'sliding into chaos.'
A report, following a visit to the region by aid agencies earlier this month, said the rule of law was 'close to non-existant' and the state 'virtually bankrupt.'
'Gross and systematic human rights violations' continued to take place 'in a climate of total impunity' with villages being burned, civilians executed, tortured and raped.
The report stated around a million people were now affected by the unrest. The numbers of internally displaced people had trebled between January and October this year from 50,000 to 150,000 with 70,000 refugees having fled to neighbouring Chad and Cameroon.
Elections last year had failed to quell the violence and rebel forces now battled with Government troops, mainly in the north west. The unrest over the border in Darfur and Chad threatened to further destabilise the country.
The report urged the UN to beef up its humanitarian effort and to send a human rights investigation mission to north of the country.
© 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-AgenturCOMMENT
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