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On March 16, 2019, two brigade leaders of the UPC armed group pose for photos in the town of Bokolobo, near Bambari. By FLORENT VERGNES (AFP / File)
The UN Security Council on Tuesday told the Central African Republic that it should make progress in reintegrating rebels into security forces, a precondition for the revision of an arms embargo.
In a unanimous statement, the council said it would review the ban on arms sales if progress was made in disarming rebel groups as a result of a peace agreement signed in February.
The arms embargo imposed by the United Nations was imposed in 2013 when the country fell apart after President François Bozizé, a Christian, was overthrown by a majority of Muslim rebels from the Seleka.
The government has repeatedly called for the blockade to be lifted to allow its ill – equipped forces to be armed and to badert the authority of the state throughout the country.
The French-drafted Council statement calls on the government to make progress in establishing a national program that will disarm and "reintegrate former members of armed groups … into the entire workforce. in uniform".
The measure also calls on the government to improve the storage and monitoring of weapons and ammunition and to adopt measures to strengthen the control of small arms and light weapons.
The Bangui government is due to report back to the council in June on progress on disarmament, reintegration and arms control, which will be followed a month later by a UN report badessing the changes.
The council will then conduct a review of the arms embargo by September, if the CAR meets the set of criteria.
The CAR is struggling to recover from the bloodletting of 2013 despite the elections that brought President Faustin-Archange Touadera to power.
The conflict left thousands dead and forced a quarter of the 4.5 million population to leave their homes.
The peace agreement – the eighth since 2012 in this conflict-ridden and impoverished state – brought together the Central African government and 14 armed groups that control most of the country.
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