Africa - Thursday, April 30, 2009 7:41 - 0 Comments

CAR soldiers blamed for killings

Troops in the Central African Republic killed up to 30 civilians in February to deter rebels, a BBC investigation on both sides of the border has found.

Witnesses say government soldiers killed 21 people in the village of Sokumba, in the Ndele area, about 70km (44 miles) from the border with Chad. Some 18,000 refugees have crossed the border into Chad to escape the conflict, says the UN refugee agency. The Central African Republic (CAR) army declined to respond to the allegations.

Other human rights abuses committed by both the national military and rebels have been reported in the area. Four months after a peace deal was signed by various insurgent groups, the country is facing renewed fighting in the north.

Blood-stained clothes

In Sokumba, a group of women were preparing for a funeral ceremony when soldiers – believed to be part of the elite presidential guard – arrived in the village and told all the men to gather under a mango tree.

The men were stripped naked and tied to mango trees before several were shot in the head, some were stabbed to death and one person was decapitated Eyewitness reports Massacre haunts CAR villagers Profile: Central African Republic

The BBC’s Thomas Fessy interviewed witnesses who say soldiers accused them of supporting the rebels and killed the men after first shooting the chief of the village.

Diplomatic sources say empty shell cases and blood-stained clothes were found at the scene a week after the killing.

Between seven and nine other people are reported to have been killed by government soldiers in nearby villages.

The BBC’s Celeste Hicks on Chad’s border with CAR says about 250 families have just arrived.

She says people are coming day after day with whatever they have been able to carry – some cooking pots, utensils and their children – after weeks fleeing through the bush.

Refugees told her that the killings in Sokumba had aimed to suppress a little-known rebel movement, the Convention of Patriots for Justice and Peace (CPJP).

The eyewitnesses said the men were stripped naked and tied to mango trees before several were shot in the head, some were stabbed with knives in the stomach until they died and one person was decapitated after he was killed. According to the unverified testimony, the troops’ commander checked all were dead by shooting them again, before leaving the bodies in the street.

The head of the UN human rights section in Bangui, the capital of the CAR, Renner Onana, says abuses have been committed by both the army and the rebels in the area. CAR army chief-of-staff Gen Francois Mobebou refused to comment.

Sporadic fighting broke out in January between government troops and the CPJP. Little is known about the rebel group’s aims or organisation.