Amnesty International is calling for the immediate establishment of a UN peacekeeping force in the Central African Republic, as human rights abuses in the country reach unprecedented levels.

The UN announced today that peacekeepers would be deployed in December, but escalating violence means that it needs to happen now, insists Amnesty.

Jean-Eric Nkurikiye, Amnesty International’s Central Africa campaigner said:

“The conflict has been going on for almost a year now and the human rights violations inflicted upon the CAR population have reached unprecedented levels.

"UN peacekeeping forces are often notoriously slow to deploy, but there is no time to wait in the CAR. The security forces don’t seem to have the will or the capacity to maintain law and order in the country.

“The African Union, leading the deployment of African troops in CAR, declared in July that it would deploy some 3,500 soldiers to protect civilians, but less than half of these are in the country.

“To stop these horrific killings and violence, UN troops need to be deployed immediately.”

Amnesty documented the escalating violence in a report published in October entitled CAR: Human rights crisis spiralling out of control, and also recently released satellite images revealing the shocking aftermath of recent human rights abuses. These include evidence of 485 homes being torched in Bouca as well as internally displaced persons massing near the town of Bossangoa after fleeing ongoing violence.

Amnesty documented the escalating violence in a report published in October entitled CAR: Human rights crisis spiralling out of control, and also recently released satellite images revealing the shocking aftermath of recent human rights abuses. These include evidence of 485 homes being torched in Bouca as well as internally displaced persons massing near the town of Bossangoa after fleeing ongoing violence.