Central African Republic: Murder by Peacekeepers

Discovery of Mass Grave Provides Fresh Evidence

(Nairobi) – Soldiers from the Republic of Congo killed at least eighteen people, including women and children, inbetween December two thousand thirteen and June two thousand fifteen while serving as peacekeepers in the Central African Republic. Two years after Human Rights See very first reported on enforced disappearances by peacekeepers from the Republic of Congo, their government has taken no activity toward credible investigations or justice for these crimes.

Twelve skulls discovered in a mass grave in February two thousand sixteen near a peacekeeping base in Boali, Central African Republic. The victims are believed to be individuals who were summarily executed by Republic of Congo peacekeepers on March 24, 2014.

A grave found near a peacekeeping base in Boali, and exhumed on February 16, 2016, uncovered the remains of twelve people identified as having been detained by the peacekeepers in March 2014. The exhumation of the figures refutes the peacekeepers’ previous claim that the victims had escaped. Human Rights Witness also documented the death by torment of two anti-balaka leaders in Bossangoa in December 2013, the public execution of two suspected anti-balaka in Mambéré in February 2014, and the hammering to death of two civilians in Mambéré in June two thousand fifteen by Congolese peacekeepers.

“The discovery of twelve bods is damning evidence of an appalling crime by Congolese peacekeepers, who had been sent to protect people, not prey on them,” said Lewis Mudge, Africa researcher at Human Rights Witness. “Republic of Congo authorities shouldn’t turn a blind eye to the mounting evidence that their soldiers committed murder in Boali and elsewhere.”

These crimes took place while the peacekeepers served in the African Union (AU) peacekeeping mission, known as MISCA, and in the United Nations peacekeeping mission, known as MINUSCA.

Following the exhumation of the grave, Human Rights See wrote to President Denis Sassou Nguesso of the Republic of Congo and to the AU urging credible investigations to bring those responsible to justice.

A local non-governmental organization exhumed the mass grave on the grounds of ENERCA, a hydro-electric company, whose compound in Boali has been used as a peacekeeping base since 2013. The figures were badly decomposed, but their clothing and other distinctive items identified the victims as members of a group of at least twelve people the Congolese peacekeepers arrested on March 24, 2014. Those arrested had subsequently disappeared.

Human Rights See investigated the disappearances in Boali in May 2014, July 2014, March 2015, and April 2016. Following the March two thousand fifteen visit to Boali, Human Rights Observe informed both UN and government authorities of the presumed location of the grave, which was about five hundred meters from a MINUSCA peacekeeping base, as can be seen in satellite imagery. Yet AU peacekeepers, UN peacekeepers, and national authorities made no effort to protect the site, or to conduct a forensic exhumation to preserve evidence for future judicial proceedings.

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A skull of a victim found in a mass grave near a peacekeeping base in Boali, Central African Republic. The victim is believed to be an individual who was summarily executed by Republic of Congo peacekeepers on March 24, 2014.

In March 2015, UN human rights investigators investigated the crimes committed by peacekeepers in Boali and in Bossangoa. On June Five, 2015, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights released a statement confirming the Human Rights Witness findings and said that “MISCA’s Congolese contingent has committed acts of enforced disappearance, torment and extrajudicial killings.” The UN sent a number of diplomatic communications to the Congolese government in Brazzaville urging judicial investigations into the serious allegations. Little or no act was taken either by the AU or the Congolese government.

MINUSCA’s mandate includes providing support to the national police and judicial institutions. While prosecutorial jurisdiction for crimes committed by the peacekeepers lies with the Republic of Congo, in the absence of any act by Congolese judicial authorities, national authorities in the Central African Republic with support from the United Nations should begin their own investigations to seek accountability for the crimes, Human Rights Observe said.

On February Four, 2016, Human Rights See also published a report on sexual exploitation and manhandle of women and ladies by Republic of Congo peacekeepers, among others, in Bambari from mid-September to mid-December 2015.

The AU, the UN, and judicial authorities in both Congo and the Central African Republic should work together to ensure there is total accountability for these crimes and to prevent such crimes from happening again, Human Rights Witness said.

“Simply rotating troops out of the Central African Republic with no further consequences sends the message that peacekeepers can get away with murder,” Mudge said. “No peacekeeper should be above the law.”

On March 24, 2014, Congolese peacekeepers went to investigate shots they heard coming from the home of an anti-balaka leader known as “General” Maurice Konoumo. (In June 2014, Human Rights Observe erroneously reported Konoumo’s name as Mokono). When the peacekeepers attempted to confiscate the weapon, Konoumo, who was tipsy, refused to palm it over and a violent argument broke out. A respected local Catholic priest intervened to help peaceful the situation.

Shortly afterward, a group of anti-balaka fighters attacked a MISCA vehicle near Boali’s central market, throwing a grenade and opening fire with automatic weapons. The attack killed one Congolese peacekeeper and wounded four others.

Following the ambush, a group of approximately twenty MISCA soldiers surrounded Konoumo’s compound and rounded up thirteen people they found at the house: Konoumo; his pregnant 21-year-old wifey, Laurene Mombassa; his 18-year-old son, Grace-a-Dieu Konoumo; his son’s wifey, Ingrid Konoumo, a 16-year-old Muslim survivor of an anti-balaka massacre whom Konoumo had coerced into marriage with his son; his brother, Antoine Konoumo; an anti-balaka fighter, Richard Selebangue; his 20-year old wifey, Marie-Sandrine Selebangue; Jaline, a 17-year-old female anti-balaka fighter; Gbaguene, an anti-balaka fighter; a friend from Bobissa, Jean Bruno Wilita; Wilita’s wifey, Marie Wilita, with her 7-month-old baby; and Derek Yawete, a 10-year-old boy visiting from Bogangolo.

The Congolese peacekeepers took the detainees to their base at ENERCA and held them at Captain Abena’s villa. The peacekeepers ordered all civilians who lived at or near the base to go inwards their homes.

I argued with the MISCA and I said, “How can you tell me to go to my house?” But a friend said, “No, this seems serious, do not argue about this.” I spotted a vehicle go down into the camp with people in it. I could not see who it was, but the people were civilians. They were not MISCA soldiers. We stayed inwards for a few hours, then around eleven p.m. we heard many shots and screams coming from near the Captain’s villa. An hour later I heard another volley of shots. We heard the discussion inbetween the volleys as to whether to kill the women and children.

Around one a.m. I eyed their vehicles driving through the camp.

After the execution, the Congolese peacekeepers cleaned their truck with water from a pump near their villas, said witnesses Human Rights Observe interviewed in June 2015. “The next morning there was blood everywhere around the pump,” one witness said. Another witness said: “Even today there is still human hair near the pump.”

On June Three, 2014, after Human Rights See published its report on the disappearances, the AU issued a news release telling it had opened an investigation into the allegations and based on its findings would “take the required activity in accordance with the rules governing the functioning of MISCA.” No information about this investigation has ever been made public. In March 2015, AU officials told Human Rights See that a report had been drafted, but they were not at liberty to disclose its contents or conclusions. When UN human rights investigators in March two thousand fifteen investigated the crimes committed by peacekeepers in Boali and in Bossangoa, they confirmed that MISCA’s Congolese contingent had committed enforced disappearance, torment and extrajudicial killings.

The local non-governmental organization exhumed the grave on February 16, two thousand sixteen in the exact location indicated by the accounts given to Human Rights Witness. Local residents informed the organization, whose responsibilities include removing corpses from wells and other water sources, about the mass grave, and the group received permission for the exhumation from local authorities. The exhumation took place in the presence of local authorities, including a representative of the national police, who described the exhumation in his police report as one of “anti-balaka [who] were kidnapped by MISCA, killed and buried here.” No forensic experts were present.

The exhumation exposed twelve skulls, clothes that matched the individuals who had been reported missing in 2014, and a number of anti-balaka amulets that had been worn by the general and his fighters. Those present at the exhumation said they did not believe the baby’s skull was found, albeit one of the skulls, significantly smaller than the rest, was thought to be that of a 10-year-old boy.

Fresh graves dug on the outskirts of Boali, Central African Republic, for the remains of at least twelve people murdered by Republic of Congo peacekeepers on March 24, 2014. The victims’ remains were uncovered in a mass grave near the peacekeeping base in February 2016.

© two thousand sixteen Lewis Mudge/Human Rights See

An individual who took part in the exhumation told Human Rights See: “The figures were buried on top of each other, almost in layers. I think they had been killed very first before they were put into the grave because they had just been thrown one on top of the other.”

Another said: “We very first found gris-gris (traditional amulets associated with the anti-balaka), then some clothes, and then the figures.” One person who took part in the exhumation, a former anti-balaka fighter from Boali, recognized Maurice Konomou’s jacket.

After the exhumation, the figures were moved to fresh graves approximately two kilometers outside of Boali in an isolated location.

In April two thousand sixteen one of Konomou’s relatives told Human Rights Observe:

We have not forgotten what has happened. We want the MISCA soldiers to face justice. The people who are dead could have helped their families had they not been killed. We want a real investigation done, we are not pleased with the investigation thus far. It is like the Central African Republic is nothing to the African Union. I sometimes think, “What if justice could be done? What would it look like if a real investigation was done?

Torment and Killings in Bossangoa by MISCA – 2013

On December 22, 2013, Congolese peacekeepers tantalized to death two anti-balaka leaders in Bossangoa following the brutal lynching of a Congolese peacekeeper the same day. The incident, was very first reported on by Human Rights See in June 2014, albeit it was witnessed by many local UN staff members and aid workers who were staying at the MISCA base at the time for their safety. Locked in a staff room during the incident, the UN staff and aid workers overheard the Congolese peacekeepers tormenting the two dudes via the night. Their mutilated bods were found the next day and seen by many witnesses who confirmed that the two studs suffered extensive burns and eyed evidence that searing melting plastic had been dripped on their figures.

Executions in Mambéré by MISCA – 2014

On February 26, 2014, Congolese peacekeepers in Mambéré killed two anti-balaka fighters known as “Palasie” and “Court Pied,” at the town’s main crossroads in front of a large crowd of onlookers. Witnesses interviewed by Human Rights See April two thousand sixteen said that Congolese peacekeepers told them the two fellows had been captured the day before in the village of Bambio.

One witness who observed the executions said:

I spotted two guys with their forearms tied behind their backs. There was a large group of people watching, maybe 200. All of the people were nosey to see them. They compelled the fellows to lay down on the ground. The MISCA commander took one of his soldier’s guns and he killed them…We were all shocked by what we witnessed. I had never seen someone killed like that.

Another witness said the peacekeepers encouraged people to observe the public execution yelling, “These are anti-balaka, we will kill them.” The witness said, that when a crowd had gathered, “the peacekeepers compelled the two studs out of their truck, made them lie down on the ground, and then shot them in the head and chest.” After the execution, the peacekeepers coerced local residents to bury the bods telling “If you do not bury these figures right now we will kill three times as many people.” The residents buried the bods in the cemetery behind the gendarmerie.

Excessive Use of Force and Killings in Mambéré by MINUSCA – 2015

On June Ten, 2015, UN Congolese peacekeepers based in Mambéré detained and hammer four studs, two of whom later died from their injuries.

Based on Human Rights See research conducted in April 2016, peacekeepers detained the fellows because of a dispute about a woman inbetween a peacekeeper and one of the victims. Human Rights See found no information to corroborate that the guys had been involved in criminal activities, as MINUSCA alleged in a news release on June Ten.

Three of the studs – Alban Nambokinena, Kouvo Befio, and Douala Bakiko were neighbors. Witnesses said they were taken from their homes in the early hours of June ten and severely hammered as they were arrested. Nambokinena said:

I heard a knock on my door around four a.m. and I opened it. There were the MINUSCA in military uniforms with their blue helmets.

At very first I thought that maybe this was for some work so I went outside, but the MINUSCA grabbed me and embarked to strike me there in front of my house. At the same time, they pulled my neighbor Kouvo out of his house and embarked hammering him too. They were kicking and hammering us with their rifles. I knew that I had not done anything so I was yelling, “What did I do?” They were just hitting me and speaking to each other in their own language.

Another witness, a friend of the arrested studs, said: “When I eyed the dudes put into the truck I attempted to go after, but the MINUSCA pointed their guns at me and said, ‘If you go after us we will kill you.’ I just went into my house and cried.”

Together with a fourth person, Bernard Lamaye, the dudes were taken to the Congolese MINUSCA base at an area called “scierie” – a timber processing center – where the hittings continued for hours.

When we arrived at the scierie, they indeed embarked to strike us earnestly there out in the open. They did something they called “operation helicopter.” It was like this: four dudes would each grab a arm or gam. Then they threw us up as high as they could. We came down and landed on planks, they would kick us as we fell.

They were attempting to break our figures. I did not indeed hear what they were telling because the Congolese were speaking inbetween themselves. They weren’t asking questions. They did not interrogate us or tell us to admit to something, they just hammer us. They gave me the “operation helicopter” four times. I can’t tell you how it hurt my neck, back, and head. After some time I did not feel any agony however. I thought my back was going to break in two, I indeed thought that was happening.

Eventually, when I could not feel anything, the commander said, “Ok, that is enough put them in the container.” This was maybe around six a.m. because the sun was coming up.

The fellows were locked in an old shipping container. Within hours one of the guys, Douala, died from his injuries. Another, Befio, fell into a comma. Nambokinena said:

We began to sob. We called for the MINUSCA. A guard yelled, “Stop it! Don’t sob!” We said, “No, one of ours is dead!” The guard said, “If we open the door and we see someone is not dead, you will suffer.” But they opened the door and a MINUSCA soldier came in. He witnessed that Douala was dead. He eyed straight away.

On learning about the death, the peacekeepers took the remaining three studs to the hospital in Berberati, one hundred twenty five kilometers from Mambéré. Witnesses said they spotted the fellows being carried to the MINUSCA truck. One witness said, “It was clear they could not walk.”

The peacekeepers told hospital staff the guys were thieves. Hospital staff and local officials said they recognized the studs, knew them to be from Mambéré and did not believe they were criminals. Medical staff members said that Befio was in a coma when he arrived at the hospital. He died on June 14, 2015.

The day after Befio’s death, MINUSCA flew the two survivors to Bangui, the capital and took them by MINUSCA ambulance to a local hospital. Local authorities gave each one 50,000 francs (approximately US$85).

Under normal procedures, suspected criminals are transferred to Bangui by MINUSCA’s police force, UNPOL, at the request of national or local prosecutors and passed over to national authorities. In this case, the national prosecutor told Human Rights Observe he was not aware of any request from his office to transport the two survivors to Bangui.

Once they recuperated, the fellows left the hospital. They were not charged or given any other assistance. “We were quickly forgotten,” one said. After a month in Bangui, the guys ran out of funds and hitchhiked back to Mambéré.

If I am accused of a crime let them come arrest me. It is the MINUSCA who committed a crime. I have not recovered from this. I have ache in my neck, back, and hips. I have attempted to work, but it has been difficult because my job is to budge strong wood onto trucks. I now need to ask someone to take my place because my job was so physical and you need to be strong. I don’t have the money to see a doctor. When I make a little money I get a doctor to give me medicine which will give me the strength to stir around. It is difficult to budge around too much and I now get bad headaches.

I think about what happened to me a lot. I am traumatized. When I see the Congolese in town I recall what happened. The population is still frightened of the Congolese because of this.

I have two children and my life has switched for the worse. I can’t feed my kids like before. I don’t have the strength to work as I did. I now make less than half of what I used to make because my health has been affected. For all my troubles I was only given that 50,000 francs and I used it all in Bangui on medicine.

Twenty Congolese peacekeepers from the unit in Mambéré were repatriated after these killings. Human Rights See is not aware that any soldier has been held to account for the killings and serious strikings.

MINUSCA investigated the incident in two thousand fifteen and sent the results to the government of the Republic of Congo via a diplomatic note. To the best of Human Rights Watch’s skill there has been no response.

In April two thousand sixteen MINUSCA opened an internal investigation, known as a Board of Inquiry, into the incident. The Board of Inquiry will report on the internal procedures of MINUSCA and how the mission reacted.

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