| Central African Armed Forces | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1960 |
| Service branches | Armée de Terre (Ground Forces) l’Armée de l’air (Air Force) Gendarmerie nationale (Gendarmerie) GR – Garde républicaine (Presidential Guard) Police Nationale (Police) |
| Headquarters | Camp Le Roux, Bangui |
| Leadership | |
| Commander-in-Chief | President Faustin-Archange Touadéra |
| Minister of Defense | Joseph Yakété |
| Manpower | |
| Conscription | Voluntary, after the age of 18 years |
| Available for military service | males age 18–49: 853,760 (2005 est.), age 15–49 |
| Fit for military service | males age 18–49: 416,091 (2005 est.), age 15–49 |
| Active personnel | 4,500 |
| Expenditures | |
| Budget | $15.5 million (2004) |
| Percent of GDP | 1.1 |
| Related articles | |
| History | Lord's Resistance Army insurgency Central African Republic Bush War Central African Republic conflict |
The Central African Armed Forces (French: Forces armées centrafricaines (FACA) are the armed forces of the Central African Republic, established after independence in 1960. Today they are a rather weak institution, dependent on international support to hold back the enemies in the current civil war. Its disloyalty to the president came to the fore during the mutinies in 1996–1997, but ever since then it has faced internal problems. It has been strongly criticised by human rights organisations due to its terror, including killings, torture and sexual violence.
It proved to be incompetent in 2013 when militants of the Séléka rebel coalition seized power and overthrew President Bozizé, committing executions of many FACA troops.[1]
Contents
[hide]History
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Role of military in domestic politics
The military has played an important role in the history of Central African Republic. The immediate former president, General François Bozizé is a former army chief-of-staff and his government includes several high-level military officers. Among the country’s five presidents since independence in 1960, three have been former army chiefs-of-staff, who have taken power through coups d'état. No president with military background has however been succeeded by a new military president.
The country’s first president, David Dacko was overthrown by his army chief-of-staff, Jean-Bédel Bokassa in 1966. Following Bokassa, David Dacko was restored in 1981, only to be overthrown once again by his new army chief of staff, General André Kolingba after only a few months in power.
In 1993, Ange-Félix Patassé became the first elected president of the country. He became soon unpopular within the army, resulting in violent mutinies in 1996–1997. In May 2001, there was an unsuccessful coup attempt by Kolingba and once again Patassé had to turn to friends abroad for support, this time Libya and DR Congo were helpful. Some months later, in the end of October, Patassé sacked his army chief-of-staff, François Bozizé, and tried to arrest him. Bozizé then fled to Chad and gathered a group of rebellions. In 2002, he seized Bangui for a short period. In March 2003 Bozizé took power through a coup d’état .
Importance of ethnicity
When General Kolingba became president in 1981, he implemented an ethnicity-based recruitment policy for the administration. Kolingba was a member of the Yakoma people from the south of the country, which made up approximately 5% of the total population. During his rule, members of Yakoma were granted all key positions in the administration and made up a majority of the military. This later had disastrous consequences, when Kolingba was replaced by a member of a northerner tribe, Ange-Félix Patassé.
Army mutinies of 1996–1997
Soon after the election 1993, Patassé became unpopular within the army, not least because of his inability to pay their wages (partly due to economic mismanagement and partly because France suddenly ended its economic support for the soldiers’ wages). Another reason for the irritation was that most of FACA consisted of soldiers from Kolingba’s ethnic group, the Yakoma. During Patassé’s rule they were becoming increasingly marginalised, while Patassé created militias favouring his own Gbaya tribe, as well as neighbouring Sara and Kaba. This resulted in army mutinies in 1996–1997, where fractions of the military clashed with the presidential guard, the Unité de sécurité présidentielle (USP) and militias loyal to Patassé.
- On April 18, 1996, there was a first mutiny by 200–300 soldiers who claimed that they had not received their wage since 1992–1993. The confrontations between the soldiers and the presidential guard resulted in 9 dead and 40 wounded. French forces were supporting (Operation Almandin I) and acted negotiators. The unrest ended when the soldiers were finally paid their wages by France and the President agreed not to start legal proceedings against the soldiers.
- On May 18, 1996, a second mutiny was led by 500 soldiers who refused to be disarmed and denounced the agreement reached in April. The French forces were once again called to Bangui (Operation Almadin II), supported by military from Chad and Gabon. 3,500 foreigners were evacuated during the unrest, which killed 43 persons and wounded 238.
- On May 26, a peace agreement was signed between France and the mutineers. The latter were promised amnesty, allowed to retain their weapons. Their security was ensured by the French military.
- On November 15, 1996, there was a third mutiny and 1,500 French soldiers were flown in to ensure the safety of the foreigners. The mutineers demanded the discharge of the president.
On 6 December, a negotiation process started, facilitated by Gabon, Burkina-Faso, Chad and Mali. The military – supported by the opposition parties – keeps claiming that Patassé has to resign. In January, 1997, however, the Bangui Agreements were signed and the French EFAO troop was replaced by the 1,350 soldiers of the Mission interafricaine de surveillance des Accords de Bangui (MISAB). In March, all mutineers were granted amnesty. The fighting between MISAB and the mutineers continued with a large offensive in June, resulting in up to 200 casualties. After this final clash, the mutineers stayed calm.
After the mutinies, President Patassé suffered from a typical "dictator’s paranoia", resulting in a period of cruel terror executed by the presidential guard and various militia within the FACA loyal to the president, such as the Karako. It was directed against the Yakoma tribe, of which it is estimated that 20,000 persons fled during this period. But the oppression also targeted other parts of the society. The president accused his former ally France of supporting his enemies and seeks new international ties. When he strengthened his presidential guard (creating the FORSIDIR, see below), Libya sent him 300 additional soldiers for his own personal safety. When former President Kolingba attempted a coup d’état in 2001 (which was, according to Patassé, supported by France), the Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC) of Jean-Pierre Bemba in DR Congo came to his rescue.
Crimes conducted by Patassé’s militias and Congolese soldiers during this period are now being investigated by the International Criminal Court, who wrote that "sexual violence appears to have been a central feature of the conflict", having identified more than 600 rape victims.
Present situation
The FACA has been dominated by soldiers from the Yakoma ethnic group since the time of Kolingba. It has hence been considered disloyal by the two northerner presidents Patassé and Bozizé, both of whom have equipped and run their own militias outside FACA. The military also proved its disloyalty during the mutinies in 1996–1997. Although Francois Bozizé has a background in FACA himself (being its chief-of-staff from 1997 to 2001), he has been cautious by retaining the defence portfolio, as well as by appointing his son Jean-Francis Bozizé cabinet director in charge of running the Ministry of Defence. He kept his old friend General Antoine Gambi as Chief of Staff. Due to failure to curb deepening unrest in the northern part of the country, Gambi was in July 2006 replaced with Bozizé’s old friend from the military academy, Jules Bernard Ouandé.
Military’s relations with the society
The forces assisting Bozizé in seizing the power in 2003 were not paid what they were promised and started looting, terrorising and killing ordinary citizens. Summary executions have taken place with the implicit approval of the government. The situation has deteriorated since early 2006 and the regular army and the presidential guard regularly execute extortion, torture, killings and other human rights violations. There is no possibility for the national judicial system to investigate these cases. At the end of 2006, there were an estimated 150,000 internally displaced people. During a UN mission in the northern part of the country in November 2006, the mission had a meeting with a prefect who said that he could not maintain law and order over the military and the presidential guards. The FACA conducts summary executions and burn houses. Only on the route between Kaga-Bandoro and Ouandago, some 2,000 houses have been burnt, leaving an estimated 10,000 persons homeless.
Reform of the army
Both the Multinational Force in the Central African Republic (FOMUC) and France are assisting in the current reform of the army. One of the key priorities of the reform of the military is make it more ethnically diversified. It should also integrate Bozizé’s own rebel group (mainly consisting of members of his own Gbaya tribe). Many of the Yakoma soldiers who left the country after the mutinies in 1996–1997 have now returned and must also be reintegrated into the army. At the same time, BONUCA holds seminars in topics such as the relationship between military and civil parts of society
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