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BANGUI. – The civil society of Central Africa Republic is demanding that an ex-rebel chief be prosecuted for bloodshed in August.
They pressed ahead with the charges two days after general Moussa Assimeh left the capital Bangui to settle in his home town of Birao in the northeast of the country.
General Assimeh was one of the chiefs of the Seleka coalition who helped Michel Djotodia to overthrow the government of Francois Bozize on March 24.
The civil society and human rights groups want him to be prosecuted in the country’s courts or at an international court for killings in the pretext of a disarmament operation.
“I was saddened to learn on Sunday of Assimeh’s departure. Our desire was to see him answer in court for the crimes he and his men committed against the Central Africa Republic’s population.
“It is him who organised the famous disarmament operation in Boy-Rabe district that left many of our brothers and sisters dead,” said Jonas Andji, the secretary-general of the association of victims of Boy-Rabe operation.
“We would wish to see him prosecuted for the crimes he has committed in the country since Seleka took over power in March 2013,” said Hyacinthe Gbiegba, the president of the Christian Action for Abolition of Torture.
Anicet Yamale, a lawyer in Bangui, said Assimeh’s departure from the capital without being questioned demonstrates the complicity of President Djotodia in the abuses inflicted on the people of Central African Republic.
General Assimeh rejoined the Seleka coalition in November 2012. Several human rights organisations have accused him of being responsible for the disarmament operation in Boy-Rabe district, known for being loyal to deposed president Bozize, and which left at least 60 people dead.
Although the general insists that he is of Central African Republic’s nationality, some people have accused him of being a Sudanese national from the Darfur region.
He is being sought by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Last month, a court in Bangui sentenced 17 Seleka fighters to eight years in prison for involvement of violence in the disarmament operation. – Xinhua.
Online Reporter