Central African Republic: Ethnic cleansing and sectarian killings

In the Central African Republic, Peacekeepers forces have failed the mission of protecting the Muslim people from the ethnic cleansing, in the west part of the country. The objective of these forces is to stop the control of the anti-balaka militias (Christian militias), which purpose is “cleaning” the country from the Muslims. ¿The consequence? A Muslim exodus.

Muslims forced out of their homes, trying
desperately to leave by any means possible.

In recent weeks, there have been anti-balaka attacks on Muslims population in the northwest towns of Bouali, Boyali, Bossembele, bossemptele and Baoro. Due to the lack of action of international communities, international peacekeeping forces have failed in the attempt of protecting those communities. They left Muslims without protection.

In order to escape from the anti-balaka´s attacks, most of the Muslims have fled their villages, while others have taken refuge near churches and mosques.

The international peacekeeping forces are composed by 5500 African Union troops (MISCA) and 1500 French troops (Sangaris). They have been deployed within Bangui and several west towns.

This humanitarian crisis is the result of the seizure of power of the Seleka forces (Nearly all the members of Seleka are Muslims) in March 2013. From approximately ten months, these Seleka forces, destroyed, burned and massacred Christian’s villages.

The Christian response wasn’t a surprise. When the Seleka was disintegrated, the anti-balaka forces gained a lot of power. Then, their next step was the violence and expulsion of Muslim communities. Despite the disintegration of the Seleka, armed Muslim forces, acting independently, have continued brutal attacks on Christian villages.

“It is time for the peacekeeping operation in CAR to protect the civilian population, deploy to threatened areas, and stop this forced exodus.”

                       

Comment

Eye for an eye… This saying could resume the current problem in Central African Republic. The Christians, thirsty of vengeance, want to destroy the Muslim communities. They want to make them feel what they felt when they were attacked by the Seleka.

The anti-balaka militias don’t discriminate when they raze Muslim villages. Killing, no matter who, is a terrible crime. The anti-balaka forces should catch the real enemies and bring them to justice. But what they´re doing in these days is terrible. A lot of innocent blood is being spilled, hundreds of women, children and elders are being massacred.

Because of the actions of a minority, is paying the whole Muslim population. This is not fair, and the Christians militias should realize the atrocious crime they´re committing. They are killing human beings. And what is really ironic is that they´re killing under a name of a religion, the Christian religion, which promotes and defends the life of others, the life of their brothers.

Although, the international community has announced the military support, I think that they could do more efforts for controlling this situation and for calming the anger of the civilians. Yesterday, the European Union announced that they were going to send 500 troops, and France also announced that it would send 400 additional troops to its former colony.

Finally, I think that the main leaders from both sides (Seleka and Anti-balaka) should be brought to the justice and should pay for these horrible massacres, in this way, the Christian and the Muslim communities would feel consoled. This dreadful violence has no sense. As Mahatma Gandhi said once “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind”.

Bibliography

http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/central-african-republic-ethnic-cleansing-sectarian-violence-2014-02-12

The Syrian Opposition, Explained

As we could watch on the video, there are several rebel groups with opposing interests. As a consequence, they fight each other, and they fight against the Bashar al-Assad Regime too. So the question is ¿Who is fighting who?

The Free Syrian Army (FSA)

It is the most well-known rebel group and is composed by civilians and army defectors. They are really autonomous and they don’t listen to their leader orders. It has been fighting all across the country in different areas.

Rebel Groups Inspired by Al Qaeda

There are two main Al Qaeda inspired groups, one of them is officially recognized by Al Qaeda, and the other one has just been rejected. These Jihad (radical Muslims) rebel groups also receive a huge foreign flow of cash, weapons and fighters. They have begun to fight against non-jihadist rebel groups like the FSA. These groups are established in the north area of the country where Syria borders with the Islamic state of Iraq. Through that border these groups receive support (men and weapons).

Islamist Groups

These groups include the powerful Islamic front. They reject the Al-Qaeda groups and the leadership of the FSA. Due to this situation, they combat with them for the territory. They are settled in the north of the country as well.

Kurdish Fighters

The Kurdish fighters’ priority is to defend their communities. They also would like to have an autonomous area, like the Iraqi Kurdistan. This army controls the territories which border with Turkey.

The government controls most of the cities in western Syria, Homs, Hama and Damascus. It´s believed to be hundreds of individual rebel groups, but the previous are the most important.

Comment

My opinion about this conflict between all these rebel groups is that this situation is moving away the most important objective and the reason why all this civil war has begun: bring down the regime of Bashar al-Assad. The battles between the FSA, the Al-Qaeda inspired groups, the Islamic groups and the Kurdish fighters are hiding and diverting attention from the real enemy.

I don’t support the violence as a solver of conflicts. All these rebel groups should unite themselves to finish this war through the dialogue in the Geneva peace talks. But, as long as all these groups don’t feel represented by the leaders that are there, the peace talks will end in a huge failure. This civil war will go on if these rebel groups continue fighting each other.

Tomorrow the ceasefire that had as objective to let the civilians flee the city of Homs is over. This means that the warfare that has killed more than 130.000 people will go on.

As I said before, all this rebel groups should join their efforts and fight against the same cause. They should follow the example of the Ukrainian protests, which are peaceful protests and they have achieved better results in a shorter period of time. The bloodthirsty government should change the way it face these problems, because they are the example of the people, and if the government attacks the population,  instead of protecting it, then the consequence would be the uprising of the people.

Finally, I think that all these rebel groups should solve their differences by choosing a leader which represents the demands of the people, and this leader should expose those demands in the Geneva peace talks.

Bibliography

http://www.nytimes.com/video/world/middleeast/100000002694572/the-syrian-opposition-explained.html
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/03/13/world/middleeast/a-snapshot-of-the-dispute-in-syria.html?ref=middleeast

Thai voters prevented from casting ballot by anti-government protesters

Tens of thousands of Thais couldn’t cast their ballots on the elections after antigovernment protesters blocked roads and took control of several polling booths. The tense political situation will go on.

The Prime Minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, has a lot of chances to be reelected because her party (or versions of it) has been chosen since 2001 by the Thais. "I would like to invite Thai people to come out and vote to uphold democracy." Said Yingluck, after she casted her vote.

Antigovernment demonstrators will continue with their protests until the Prime Minister steps down voluntarily or by force. They also claim that the nation is still ruled by Thaksin Shinawatra, the brother of Yingluck. Thaksin was ousted as Prime minister in a military coup. He lives nowadays in Dubai in order to avoid the charges of corruption that he has in Thailand.

The elections didn’t bring any calm to the current situation of the country. About 6 of the 49 million voters were affected by the closure of the polling booths. The demonstrators focused their efforts in pro-government districts where they prevent voting. The results of the elections won´t be delivered until all districts have been able to vote.

The political instability will continue in Thailand. The protests began in November and have taken the life of 10 people, and have injured 600 more.

Comment

I believe that the current political situation of Thailand is worrying. The current government is being influenced by Thaksin Shinawatra, (An ex-Prime Minister accused of corruption), and it seems that the current Prime Minister (His younger sister) will be reelected.  

If Yingluck is reelected the country will face a doubtful government, where Thaksin will control the nation through his sister. That´s why antigovernment demonstrators protest, and they are in all the right to remove the influenced government.

However, blocking the streets and taking control of the polling booths, in order to prevent civilians to vote is not the right way to ensure the democracy. The protesters should let people vote, because the vote is our main right and if it´s taken away from us we would lose the way of sharing our opinion.

Although I support the antigovernment demonstrators and the idea of removing Yingluck from the power to eliminate the Thaksin influence in the nation, I also believe that the way to ensure the democracy is voting. In this manner, the Thai people will choose a candidate who defends the country´s interests and the people’s will.  

Bibliography

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/02/thai-voters-prevented-casting-ballot-anti-government-protesters

Syrian rebels claim government holds young children in jails

The Syrian opposition said this Monday that the government is keeping in country’s jails and security buildings children, women and elderly. However the government denies any statement and it says that they hold no minors. The regime also says that the opposition is holding thousands of men.

The peace talks in Switzerland (the first peace talks during the three year Syrian conflict), have reached one of the most important topic for both sides, the exchange of prisoners. The Syrian rebels said that the amount of prisoners detained by the government could surpass 50.000 citizens including 1.000 children.

Rights groups like the New York-based Human Rights Watch said it has received reports from prisoners of children detained in jails, some of them with their mothers. Inhumane conditions for these infants are a big worry.

The Syrian people doesn’t believe in the offer made by the government of president Bashar al-Assad, in which the regime allow women and children to leave the city (Homs) using a safe passage. The reason why Syrians don’t believe in this promise is because there were some people detained (some of the minors) during the evacuation in the Damascus suburbs last year.

“But we cannot trust the regime promises; they will betray any promises they make.” Said Ahmed Abu Loui, a media activist in the city of Homs.

Comment

I personally believe that the Syrian situation is overwhelming. This three year conflict has gone too far. If these peace talks in Switzerland don’t achieve any solution, then the international community should take action in this conflict, because we can´t admit more bloodshed. More than 120.000 people have been killed and 2 million more displaced are the consequences of this civil war. I thought that the use of chemicals weapons over the population was the evilest issue we were going to face, but this situation of the children being held in jails is the limit. They live in inhumane conditions and they are the most vulnerable. It´s enough for a country that has suffered so much, a country that has seen itself reduced to ashes, a country that has destroyed itself due to the war.

Bibliography

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/syrian-rebels-claim-government-holds-young-children-in-jails-regime-denies-allegation/2014/01/27/7e575252-8787-11e3-a760-a86415d0944d_story.html