On Wednesday, the Human Rights Watch released a report detailing the war crimes committed by anti-balaka militants in the Central African Republic. According to the rights organization, these fighters are holding at least 42 Muslim Peuhl herders, who are mostly female, against their will.
According to witness accounts from victims, the anti-balaka fighters subject their prisoners to sexual violence and murder. The anti-balaka established themselves in 2013 and have been fighting the Seleka Muslims, who seized control of the country back in 2013. Since its creation, the militant anti-balaka group has terrorized Muslim civilians in the Central African Republic. The conflict between the Seleka, anti-balaka, as well as UN and French forces have caused the deaths of thousands of civilians and displaced hundreds of thousands, says the Human Rights Watch.
The conflict has lead to instability in the nation, which prevents an effective response to the anti-balaka crimes. One family that escaped their imprisonment was interviewed by the Human Rights Watch and shared the story of their 14 month captivity.
The anti-balaka fighters killed two boys, who were 6 and 7 years old, and raped three of the women and girls. One of the rape victims died from sickness and her 1 year old child died from lack of nutrition thereafter.
Accounts from other individuals shed further light on the atrocities; women were raped repeatedly by different militants and were married off to militants against their will. Victims shared that they were constantly under the threat of death.
"I was taken as a wife by the anti-balaka," she said. "It was against my will, I did not want to accept it. It was not just one man, it was with many different men. They would just take me. They brutalized me and I am now pregnant," a woman told the rights organization.
Leaders of the anti-balaka militants have not responded to the situation after being pressed by the Human Rights Watch to investigate the acts of brutality.
"Holding civilians captive, killing children, and sexually enslaving women and girls are shocking tactics by these anti-balaka and amount to war crimes," said the Africa researcher for the Human Rights Watch. "UN peacekeepers and government officials who have already taken bold steps to free one group of ethnic Peuhl should urgently intervene to free the others and arrest their captors."
