Central African Republic president defends efforts to improve human rights at donor aid talks

from The International Herald Tribune

BRUSSELS, Belgium: Central African Republic's president defended his country's efforts to improve human rights at international donor talks Friday meant to bolster much needed economic and political reforms in his impoverished nation.

Francois Bozize presented a new development strategy to EU and U.N. officials in a bid to collect some €1.14 billion (US$1.6 billion) in aid to help pay for 300 projects included in the plan, such as building up his nation's underfunded military, to constructing much needed roads, bridges and schools.

Bozize acknowledged that many parts of his country remain under the control of various rebel groups and vulnerable to neighboring conflicts in Darfur and Chad, which he said were undermining efforts to fight poverty and bring stability.

The president, who seized power in a 2003 coup and was elected in a disputed 2005 vote, criticized a report by U.S.-based Human Rights Watch last month that said government troops were responsible for various atrocities at home against their own citizens.

The report said an elite unit of Bozize's presidential guard had been behind the burning of villages, killings of 30 civilians, including the beheading of a teacher in the north of the country, last year.

"The presidential guard is in charge of my security. They are not empowered to deal with internal security questions in the country," Bozize told reporters, denying that his government forces were involved.

He said other allegations of human rights violations which occurred over the past two years by various militias have been recognized.

"It has been two years, measures have now been taken," Bozize said.

He criticized the U.S. group for conducting a "clandestine investigation on the ground," adding he and his government "are available, at their disposition to meet with them" to discuss human rights concerns.

"Human rights are also hospitals, roads, schools," Bozize said. "We are undertaking a lot of efforts and making a lot of progress."

Bozize told officials from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and those from the EU and United Nations that his country was plagued by "large-scale banditry." He said it was a phenomenon that increases "the poverty and idleness of a large part of the active population."

Bozize hoped that the arrival of a U.N.-mandated EU peacekeeping force, which will deploy in his nation's northeastern border region with Chad and Sudan's Darfur region, will help stabilize the situation there and provide security for thousands of Darfur refugees.

Some 500 EU troops will be stationed there as part of a 3,000-strong force. The Central African Republic and Chad are affected by the spillover of violence from Sudan's Darfur region.

U.N. officials estimate that around 3 million people have been uprooted by conflicts in the region, including the fighting in Darfur and unrelated rebellions in Chad and Central African Republic. The majority — some 2.25 million — are Darfuris displaced within Darfur.

The EU said it will spend around €137 million (US$196.03 million) in aid over the next six years for Central African Republic, a country which is often ignored by donors.

The nation has suffered decades of army revolts, coups d'etat and rebellions since the nation of 3.6 million gained independence from France in 1960.

Despite being landlocked, the country is rich in gold, diamonds and other minerals, but its governments have chronically lacked funds, unable to meet payrolls of the military and civil servants.

International observers are growing increasingly concerned about instability in the region where Sudan, Chad and the Central African Republic meet and have focused much needed attention on the situation in Central African Republic.