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In a 190-page report released on 5 December 2016, the United Nations Panel of Experts on the Central African Republic highlighted the existence of economic predation systems that fuel instability in the country. In addition to the struggles of the many rebel factions to control the transport routes of the country’s weapons and natural resources such as gold and diamonds, the panel of experts reveals the existence of control mechanisms and Illegal wealth held by militias, often with the complicity of the authorities.
Illegal taxes
In the eastern regions of the capital, Bangui, controlled by anti-balaka militia, the militias have in particular established illegal controls to tax fishermen and vessels carrying goods and passengers on the Oubangui River. The Panel notes that « such illegal taxes increase the price of goods and are accompanied by physical assaults, torture and rape against passengers ». The report also points out that in the west of the country « anti-balaka extorts money from Muslims who wish to return from their exile by imposing security services ».
Since river traffic was suspended in March 2016, the number of checkpoints between Bangui and the town of Kouango in the south-central part of the country was reduced from 9 to 3. Gendarmes were mobilized to put an end to these practice. The panel of experts notes, however, that « various sources have said that far from preventing this illegal imposition, the gendarmes were doing it themselves. »
Weapons Trafficking
Moreover, the fate of the Vakaga region in the north of the country is of particular concern to UN experts. Several localities in this zone remain under the exclusive control of the rebel group of the Popular Front for the Rebirth of the Central African Republic (FPRC). « In the areas it controls, the FPRC continues to defy state authority by introducing illegal security controls and imposing curfews in the Vakaga prefecture and reaffirming its opposition to the deployment of the Forces Central African Armed Forces (FACA) « . Since returning to the Central African Republic, Nuremedi Adam’s ex-number two is living in the Sikiked region of western Vakaga prefecture. « In 2016, he would have traveled to Birao and to the three-city town of Tissi, where he had recruited about 100 fighters, mainly Sudanese, » the report said.
In addition, the town of Tissi is frequently cited as the center for the supply of arms and ammunition to former Selika groups and criminal gangs. « Thus, FPRC soldiers armed with weapons of war and dressed in brand new military uniforms were recently seen in Ndélé. According to several sources, Nourredine Adam organized, in June 2016, a delivery of arms, which would have been transported by three trucks of commercial transport from Tissi to Ndélé and Kaga Bandoro.
Illegal taxes
In the eastern regions of the capital, Bangui, controlled by anti-balaka militia, the militias have in particular established illegal controls to tax fishermen and vessels carrying goods and passengers on the Oubangui River. The Panel notes that « such illegal taxes increase the price of goods and are accompanied by physical assaults, torture and rape against passengers ». The report also points out that in the west of the country « anti-balaka extorts money from Muslims who wish to return from their exile by imposing security services ».
Since river traffic was suspended in March 2016, the number of checkpoints between Bangui and the town of Kouango in the south-central part of the country was reduced from 9 to 3. Gendarmes were mobilized to put an end to these practice. The panel of experts notes, however, that « various sources have said that far from preventing this illegal imposition, the gendarmes were doing it themselves. »
Weapons Trafficking
Moreover, the fate of the Vakaga region in the north of the country is of particular concern to UN experts. Several localities in this zone remain under the exclusive control of the rebel group of the Popular Front for the Rebirth of the Central African Republic (FPRC). « In the areas it controls, the FPRC continues to defy state authority by introducing illegal security controls and imposing curfews in the Vakaga prefecture and reaffirming its opposition to the deployment of the Forces Central African Armed Forces (FACA) « . Since returning to the Central African Republic, Nuremedi Adam’s ex-number two is living in the Sikiked region of western Vakaga prefecture. « In 2016, he would have traveled to Birao and to the three-city town of Tissi, where he had recruited about 100 fighters, mainly Sudanese, » the report said.
In addition, the town of Tissi is frequently cited as the center for the supply of arms and ammunition to former Selika groups and criminal gangs. « Thus, FPRC soldiers armed with weapons of war and dressed in brand new military uniforms were recently seen in Ndélé. According to several sources, Nourredine Adam organized, in June 2016, a delivery of arms, which would have been transported by three trucks of commercial transport from Tissi to Ndélé and Kaga Bandoro.