C. A special tribunal to try suspects of the massacre of civilians

Three suspects involved in the killing of 46 civilians in the Central African Republic will be brought before a special tribunal set up to investigate human rights violations, a prosecutor in Bangui said Tuesday.

This is one of the first cases to have been submitted to the Special Criminal Court, which has started slowly and needs to step up its efforts to prosecute war crimes perpetrators, according to a recent Human Rights Watch report.

Prosecutor Eric Didier Tambo returned the case to the special court, stating to AFP that it was "a mbadive crime within the jurisdiction of this court" .

The mbadacre took place on May 21 when members of the 3R armed group launched a series of attacks on villages near the town of Paoua in the north-west of the country. HRW said the death toll was 46, all civilians.

Under pressure from the United Nations and the Central African government, the 3R group handed over three members suspected of perpetrating the murders to the authorities.

A source close to the case said that the ongoing investigation into the mbadacre could eventually involve the group leader.

He was appointed "special military advisor" to the prime minister after a peace agreement was signed in February between the government and 14 armed rebel groups, who control large tracts of the CAR.

Critics have questioned the court's targeting of prominent militia leaders and politicians, fearing that arrests will destabilize the security situation.

Until the announcement on Tuesday, there was no information on the four cases currently before the special court, inaugurated in October 2018 and composed of national and international judges. The other three cases are the subject of a preliminary inquiry.

"It is hard to imagine that (the court) will pursue the leaders of the most important armed groups or the close entourage of the head of state," said Hans de Marie Heungoup, a political scientist at the International Crisis Group.

One of the poorest and most unstable countries in the world, the CAR has turned into a bloodshed after the overthrow of President François Bozizé in 2013 by an alliance consisting mainly of Muslim rebels, which was reversed.

Much of its territory has fallen into the hands of armed groups trying to control the gold, diamond and oil deposits.

The peace agreement reached in February was the eighth pact to resolve the conflict in CAR since 2013.