By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, December 2 -- When UN peacekeepers left Birao in Central African Republic on November 15, the town was quickly taken over from the government by rebels reportedly from the Convention of Patriots for Justice and Peace, and civilians had to flee.
For its November 26 article, Inner City Press asked the UN what precautions had been taken before leaving, and what would be done. So for the UN has not answered the questions.
But well placed sources in the CAR and UN Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) describe to Inner City Press a cynical and under-reported process in which CAR President Bozize had tried to use the vacuum the UN left as leverage to get outside funding for his army, while Chad has been allowed to interview across the border with little or nothing said by the international community.
According to the source, before the UN's MINURCAT mission left Birao, an offer was made to President Birao of an expansion of the African peacekeeping force elsewhere in CAR into the region around Birao -- all of it to be funded by the European Union.
But, the sources say, Bozize said that this is the time to build CAR's own capabilities. Rather than permitting any peacekeepers, even African peacekeepers from neighboring countries, to protect civilians around Birao, he held out for donors to fund the CAR army.
It was not a surprise then, the sources say, that rebels took over Birao. The wildcard was the assistance of Chadian rebels who had been required to leave their bases in Sudan's Darfur region.
Previously, Chad hosted Darfur rebels, and Sudan allowed Chadians seeking to overthrow Idriss Deby to be based in Chad. Omar al Bashir and Deby reached an agreement, and that ended.
So the Chadian rebels tried to move into CAR, just as Joseph Kony and the Lord's Resistance Army did from Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Due to the involvement of Chadian rebels in the takeover of Birao, Chad's armed forces got involved.
But no approval was sought from the UN Security Council; in fact, no Council member has mentioned the issue, and the UN appears to want to say nothing.
Inner City Press asked the UN in writing on November 26, since the UN had canceled its normal noon briefing. On November 30, Inner City Press asked again, and was pointed to a canned and out of date statement by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Transcript here.
On December 2, before publishing this article, Inner City Press against asked UN acting Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq, what is the UN doing to protect civilians in Birao, and to confirm or deny Chad's involvement in military actions in the CAR.
“We'll check with MINURCAT,” Haq said. Video here, from Minute 8:04. But MINURCAT's going out of business. From this many conclude: UN protection of civilians, if it begins at all, ends with a whimper and not a bang. Watch this site.
