[House Hearing, 113 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
THE CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: FROM
``PRE-GENOCIDE'' TO GENOCIDE?
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH,
GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS, AND
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
MAY 1, 2014
__________
Serial No. 113-180
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/
or
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/
______
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
87-715PDF WASHINGTON : 2014
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing
Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512-1800
DC area (202) 512-1800 Fax: (202) 512-2104 Mail: Stop IDCC,
Washington, DC 20402-0001
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
EDWARD R. ROYCE, California, Chairman
CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York
ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American
DANA ROHRABACHER, California Samoa
STEVE CHABOT, Ohio BRAD SHERMAN, California
JOE WILSON, South Carolina GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York
MICHAEL T. McCAUL, Texas ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey
TED POE, Texas GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia
MATT SALMON, Arizona THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida
TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania BRIAN HIGGINS, New York
JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina KAREN BASS, California
ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts
MO BROOKS, Alabama DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island
TOM COTTON, Arkansas ALAN GRAYSON, Florida
PAUL COOK, California JUAN VARGAS, California
GEORGE HOLDING, North Carolina BRADLEY S. SCHNEIDER, Illinois
RANDY K. WEBER SR., Texas JOSEPH P. KENNEDY III,
SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania Massachusetts
STEVE STOCKMAN, Texas AMI BERA, California
RON DeSANTIS, Florida ALAN S. LOWENTHAL, California
DOUG COLLINS, Georgia GRACE MENG, New York
MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina LOIS FRANKEL, Florida
TED S. YOHO, Florida TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii
LUKE MESSER, Indiana JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas
Amy Porter, Chief of Staff Thomas Sheehy, Staff Director
Jason Steinbaum, Democratic Staff Director
------
Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and
International Organizations
CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey, Chairman
TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania KAREN BASS, California
RANDY K. WEBER SR., Texas DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island
STEVE STOCKMAN, Texas AMI BERA, California
MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina
C O N T E N T S
----------
Page
WITNESSES
The Honorable Robert P. Jackson, Principal Deputy Assistant
Secretary, Bureau of African Affairs, U.S. Department of State. 7
The Honorable Anne Richard, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of
Population, Refugees and Migration, U.S. Department of State... 17
Mr. Scott Campbell, regional director for Central Africa,
Catholic Relief Services....................................... 33
Ms. Madeline Rose, policy & advocacy advisor, Mercy Corps........ 42
Mr. Kasper Agger, field researcher, Enough Project............... 52
The Honorable Robin Renee Sanders, chief executive officer,
FEEEDS Advocacy Initiative..................................... 59
LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING
The Honorable Robert P. Jackson: Prepared statement.............. 11
The Honorable Anne Richard: Prepared statement................... 20
Mr. Scott Campbell: Prepared statement........................... 37
Ms. Madeline Rose: Prepared statement............................ 45
Mr. Kasper Agger: Prepared statement............................. 54
The Honorable Robin Renee Sanders: Prepared statement............ 62
APPENDIX
Hearing notice................................................... 82
Hearing minutes.................................................. 83
The Honorable Robin Renee Sanders: Revised and extended statement 84
Written responses from the the Honorable Anne Richard to
questions submitted for the record by the Honorable Christopher
H. Smith, a Representative in Congress from the State of New
Jersey, and chairman, Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health,
Global Human Rights, and International Organizations........... 87
THE CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: FROM ``PRE-GENOCIDE'' TO GENOCIDE?
----------
THURSDAY, MAY 1, 2014
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health,
Global Human Rights, and International Organizations,
Committee on Foreign Affairs,
Washington, DC.
The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10 o'clock
a.m., in room 2172 Rayburn House Office Building, Hon.
Christopher H. Smith (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.
Mr. Smith. The subcommittee will come to order and thank
you for being here and good morning to everyone. Our hearing
addresses an extremely critical topic this morning, the
worsening crisis in the Central African Republic where untold
lives hang in the balance and the window for action is
narrowing each and every day.
This is not the first hearing that we have had on the
Central African Republic. It follows up on a hearing that we
held last November, and of course many of us, like our
distinguished witnesses, have been in ongoing and numerous
meetings with bishops, imams, humanitarian NGOs, diplomats, and
interested parties.
I would note that at our November hearing, Acting Assistant
Secretary Robert Jackson who will again testify today said that
the CAR was in a pre-genocide stage. Since that time that Mr.
Jackson spoke to us, the situation appears to have gotten
demonstratively worse.
We will hear again today from Acting Assistant Secretary
Jackson who will update us not only on the situation on the
ground, but also on a changing policy that I believe reflects a
course of action that we had recommended that the
administration undertake last November--namely, that the United
Nations peacekeepers be introduced into the country, as the
existing African force has been serving far too many vested
interests.
Hopefully such an intervention will not come too late,
because we are witnessing a country that is in rapid
disintegration, apparently descending again from a pre-genocide
stage to one characterized by a word almost too painful to
articulate, genocide.
For in a country that for decades has been characterized by
brutal misrule and brazen corruption, we are seeing for the
first time sectarian divisions that never existed before.
Economic tensions and rivalry over land use for grazing versus
planting have always existed, but they have given way to a
butchery based on religious and ethnic affiliation.
This is happening at a time when we mark the 20th
anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda. When that country was
being turned into a massive killing field the world stood idly
by. Both President Clinton and the U.N. peacekeeping chief at
the time, Kofi Annan, had actionable intelligence information
that could have prevented, or at least mitigated, the Rwandan
genocide, but chose callous indifference that enabled slaughter
of unprecedented proportions.
I would note parenthetically that I held a series of
meetings--hearings, three of them--on Rwanda, and we heard from
people who said we had the information in hand. General
Dallaire was there on the ground willing to take effective
action to curtail what turned out to be upwards of 1 million
people who were slaughtered, and with that information again
that could have been prevented or at least largely mitigated.
When the blood stopped flowing, the world looked at the
corpses piled high and was shocked. ``Never again'' was the
phrase that was on everyone's lips. Well, ladies and gentlemen,
it is happening again as we know, as our distinguished
witnesses know and will bear witness to today. The question
before us today is whether the phrase ``never again'' is one
that we simply use to pay lip service while nothing is being
done or not enough, and whether or not we are going to act
decisively.
We do have two distinguished witnesses from the State
Department here today, and as I mentioned Acting Assistant
Secretary Jackson and also Anne Richard, Assistant Secretary
for Population, Refugees, and Migration.
While the State Department sending two people to testify is
very encouraging, as it shows a heightened commitment to the
issue, the question I will be asking them to answer is not what
are we doing, but are we doing enough?
In 2012, the administration, to much fanfare, created an
Atrocities Prevention Board following a Presidential Study
Directive which stated that ``Preventing mass atrocities and
genocide is a core national security interest and a core moral
responsibility of the United States.''
The APB is supposed to provide early warning of mass
atrocities and mobilized interagency resources to stop such
atrocities. But where has the Board been? Did we take our eyes
off the ball in the CAR, perhaps because we are confronted by
so many other crises? While we have taken some steps including
authorizing $170 million in humanitarian and peacekeeping aid,
something we hope to hear more about from our Government
witnesses, are such resources adequate given the magnitude of
the problem?
We have a situation in a country where of the population of
roughly 5.2 million people, 1.3 million are at risk of
starvation while 2.5 million are estimated to be in need of
other forms of humanitarian assistance--that is nearly half the
country. We are seeing ethnic cleansing whereby whole villages
are being emptied and a countryside laid waste.
There are more than 600,000 internally displaced persons in
the CAR, plus more than 320,000 others who are refugees in
neighboring countries. Illustrative of how the situation has
worsened, the total number of those displaced has doubled since
the time we held our hearing last November when it was
estimated at 460,000 CAR nationals displaced.
Accurate figures for the numbers killed are hard to come by
and we hope our witnesses will be able to shed some light on
that. We are told that an estimated 2,000 people have been
killed since December alone, but I believe that number is
probably a conservative estimate.
What reports we do receive, however, are blood-curdling.
Human Rights Watch reported on an attack of a Muslim
neighborhood in the town of Guen in the early morning hours of
February 1, by so-called anti-balaka forces. A father recounted
how as the family was fleeing he saw his 10-year-old boy shot
in the leg and fall down. The child was then set upon by men
with machetes who hacked at him until he was dead.
Four days later, in what was reminiscent of the massacre in
Srebrenica in former Yugoslavia, anti-Balaka forces came upon a
group of Muslims who were in hiding. They separated the men
from the women and small children and executed the men, 45 of
them, using machetes and then shooting those who lay wounded.
Through the decades, the CAR has been beset by violence and
misrule. Such religious-based violence though is something that
is a new phenomenon. How did the country get to this point?
What began as a political coup d'etat in March 2013 against
former President Francois Bozize by Michel Djotodia quickly
took on religious and ethnic overtones.
As we detailed in our November hearing, Djotodia came to
power with the military backing of Seleka, a militia of some
25,000 men, up to 90 percent of whom came from Chad and Sudan
and therefore constituted a foreign invasion force in the eyes
of many. They did not speak the local language and are Muslim
in a nation that is over 80 percent Christian or otherwise non-
Muslim. They destroyed churches, executed priests, stirred up
sectarian hatreds where little to none had previously existed.
What we began to see happening last November in response to
Seleka was a reactionary backlash by anti-balaka or anti-
machete self-defense gangs. Since then, retaliatory outrages
committed by anti-balaka forces have escalated, and Muslim
civilians who had nothing to do with Seleka became targets.
As in the case of Guen, whole neighborhoods in the capital
city of Bangui and whole villages have been cleansed of their
Muslim populations. As we will hear from our witnesses, there
are numerous causes contributing to grievances including a
fight to control conflict minerals. Guen, for example, is a
mining area and thus there are economic motives that work there
as well.
Insofar as conflict can be described as religious on one
level, it is also true that religious fervor and dedication
provides the greatest hope for peace and reconciliation in the
Central African Republic.
Some of you will recall how a few months ago, three great
religious leaders came to Washington as well as to New York,
the United Nations, especially meeting with people on both
sides of the aisle, both chambers, the White House, and U.N.
officials. One was a Muslim imam; another, evangelical
Christian leader; and a third, a Catholic bishop from Bangui.
Imam Layama, Archbishop Nzapalainga, and Reverand Nicholas
Guerekoyame-Gbangou, the three spoke, and I met with them as
did so many others and was absolutely impressed, in awe of
their fervor to bring peace and reconciliation to their country
and to do just like the Christians or Muslims are trying to do
against the Boko Haram where we saw recent outrages.
Greg Simpkins and I were in Jos recently, last September,
and we met with the imam there as well as the Catholic
archbishop who have joined arms and linked hand to hand their
communities to say no to the extremism on either side, in that
case is Boko Haram. We are seeing the same positive,
interreligious dialogue and cooperation occurring again here in
CAR.
Finally, I want to relate to you a story about another man
of God, someone whom those of you who attended our November
hearing will remember and remember well. Two weeks ago was Holy
Week, and on Holy Thursday, Bishop Nongo, who testified at our
hearing, was visiting an outlying parish along with three of
his priests.
The car he was traveling in was stopped on the road by
Seleka gunmen whose leader had for a period occupied his city,
his parish. He accused Bishop Nongo of having thwarted his
plans in working with international peacekeepers. He then
sentenced him and the other three priests to execution and
death. The gunmen removed his episocopal ring and a large cross
he had around his neck, and you might remember when he sat
where you sat, Secretary Jackson, he wore that cross around his
neck.
The four men were placed in a truck and were then driven
north to the border with Chad for the order to be carried out.
On the way to the gallows their truck was stopped, again by
Seleka gunmen, this time commanded by another warlord who
actually knew Bishop Nongo and knew that he was a true
humanitarian and a man of peace and knew that the bishop
provided for over 35,000 displaced people in his parish.
Whether they were parishioners or not, he just cared for them.
He ordered the bishop and the priests freed, and through
efforts of international aid organizations and the
peacekeepers, they were helicoptered back to his home parish in
time for Good Friday. The story really hit home with me and I
am sure it will with others who know him.
Here is someone who I and others shared coffee with, we
prayed with him, and then we heard him give powerful testimony.
And his clarion call to the international community was to get
those peacekeepers, besides all of the humanitarian aid and the
other things that he said were so desperately needed. He said
we need peacekeepers who will stop the carnage and will do it
immediately.
So I am grateful that he survived to continue doing his
great lifesaving and life-enhancing work, but it just
underscores the precarious nature of how everyone, Muslims,
Christians, are at risk. Clergy, imam, bishop, they are all at
risk in the CAR and we need to redouble our efforts.
And again I thank our witnesses for being here. I yield to
my friend and colleague Karen Bass for any opening comments she
might have.
Ms. Bass. Thank you, Chairman Smith. As always, thank you
for your leadership of this subcommittee and also convening
this hearing on the Central African Republic and the prospects
that the ongoing conflicts there might intensify into genocide.
I would also like to thank our distinguished witnesses
including Ambassador Jackson and Anne Richards from the U.S.
Department of State as well as a range of experts from
prominent nongovernmental development and advocacy
organizations.
I look forward to hearing your perspectives on the ongoing
crisis in the Central African Republic including getting an
update on the humanitarian situation and the U.S. and
international efforts to address the challenges, including the
collaboration with the African Union and what is ultimately at
stake if efforts to quell the conflict are not implemented with
sufficient resources and all deliberate speed.
In April I had the honor of traveling to Rwanda, Burundi,
and the Central African Republic as part of the presidential
delegation to the region to attend the 20th anniversary of the
Rwandan genocide. And while on the Central African Republic leg
of the journey, I witnessed firsthand much of the poverty, the
chaos, and the lack of economic opportunities which in many
ways we know gave rise to much of the current conflict.
In addition to attending the Rwandan genocide memorial,
when we went to the CAR it is my understanding in traveling
with Ambassador Power that it was the first time a Cabinet-
level official had ever traveled to the nation. We met with a
group of Muslims and Christians and it was really just tragic
to hear their testimonies and their stories.
There was one woman who spoke with us and talked about how
she lost both of her children. Her son left that afternoon to
go to the market and never came home, and her daughter was
later found murdered. And she was a Muslim woman who was now
afraid to leave her house.
And Mr. Chairman, you have on many occasions on the human
rights portfolio part of the subcommittee talked about the
persecution of Christians, and here we have a situation where
there is Christian-led militia that are attacking the Muslim
population, and in fact it is reported that over 90 percent of
the population has been driven out of the country which is a
situation that we are certainly going to have to be looking at,
how we bring them back in.
When we met with the President of the CAR, even she talked
about even how her own security was not stable. I mean, she was
frightened. You remember that because there are many of you
here who are going to give testimony today were a part of that
delegation, and listening to her talk about her own situation
was quite frightening.
But we do know that while much as been made of the
religious layers of the conflict, the differences in religious
ideology were not the origin of the crisis which actually
reflects complex tensions over access to resources, control
over trade and land, and issues of national identity.
And you certainly when you had the hearing and talked about
the religious leaders that were here is an example of how we
know that people there and leadership there really do want to
resolve this situation in a peaceful way.
So as we prepare to hear from today's witnesses, I hope we
can learn critical lessons from the vast experience and use
them to increase support by the most effective measures to
bring an end to the conflicts in the Central African Republic.
And when we do listen to the witnesses, I am hoping that
you will provide guidance for us in terms of if there is
anything else that we can do in Congress. So as always I am
committed to working toward this end and look forward to
working with my colleagues in Washington and on the continent
to find a peaceful resolution.
Mr. Smith. I thank my good friend for her very eloquent
statement. And to underscore, as I tried to do in my opening
statement, what we have tried to do in this human rights
subcommittee, and I have chaired it beginning in 1995--was out
of it for a little while, when I did another chairmanship--but
let me just say clear and unambiguously, any sectarian violence
is to be abhorred, condemned, fought against, struggled
against, and what I have tried to do is to emphasize--and I
held all the hearings on Srebrenica as that was happening and
immediately thereafter when Muslims were targeted simply
because they were Muslims--and try to make very clear today
that both sides of extremism that are slaughtering people
because of their religious faith or ethnicity are to be
condemned and held to account.
And just parenthetically I would say to my colleagues,
yesterday this committee approved a resolution I have been
pushing since September to create a war crimes tribunal that
would mirror the great work that was done by David Crane in the
Sierra Leone War Crimes Tribunal, Rwanda, and Yugoslavia, an ad
hoc tribunal that would go after both sides, those that are
killing Christians and those that are killing Muslims and
everyone else who is doing the slaughtering in Syria.
I would like to yield to my friend and colleague, Mr.
Weber, the vice chairman of the subcommittee.
Mr. Weber. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate you
holding this hearing. I am ready to get going and anxious to
hear witnesses.
Mr. Smith. Okay. Mr. Marino?
Okay, I would like to introduce our distinguished
witnesses, again thank them for being here, beginning first
with Ambassador Robert Jackson, currently the Principal Deputy
Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of African Affairs,
previously served as the Ambassador to the Cameroon, the deputy
chief of mission and Charge d'Affaires at the U.S. Embassies in
Morocco and Senegal.
He has also worked in Burundi, Zimbabwe, Portugal, and
Canada. At the State Department he has worked in commercial and
consular sections and has done officer training. He performed
oversight in the Office of the Promotion of Democracy and Human
Rights after 9/11, and without objection his full testimony
will be made a part of the record.
Ms. Anne Richard who is the Assistant Secretary in the
State Department's Population, Refugees, and Migration Bureau,
a position she has held since 2012, Ms. Richard's previous
government service includes time in the State Department, the
Peace Corps, and the Office of Management and Budget. She has
also worked at the Council on Foreign Relations, the
International Rescue Committee, and was part of the team that
founded the International Crisis Group, a group that we hear
from often on this committee as well.
So Mr. Ambassador, if you could begin.
STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE ROBERT P. JACKSON, PRINCIPAL DEPUTY
ASSISTANT SECRETARY, BUREAU OF AFRICAN AFFAIRS, U.S. DEPARTMENT
OF STATE
Ambassador Jackson. Thank you very much Chairman Smith,
Ranking Member Bass, other members of the subcommittee, for
this opportunity to testify again about the Central African
Republic (CAR). Since I last appeared before you we have grown
more concerned with the interreligious violence that continues
between anti-balaka and ex-Seleka militia throughout the
Central African Republic.
The United States remains committed to working with the
CAR's transitional authorities and the international community
to end the violence and build a transitional process leading to
the establishment of a legitimate elected government in CAR.
In the process of forcibly taking political power from
former CAR President Francois Bozize, Seleka destroyed the
traditionally amicable relationship between CAR's Christians
and Muslims. Seleka fighters were little more than mercenaries,
bandits, and criminals who sustained themselves by looting,
killing, kidnapping, and pillaging the country which is 85 to
90 percent Christian and animist.
While the Seleka rebellion did not begin as a religiously-
based movement intent on targeting Christians, the
disproportionate impact of its extreme violence on the
population led to the establishment of Christian self-defense
militias, the anti-balaka. These militias then began to engage
in revenge killings, first against Seleka rebels then against
presumed Seleka supporters, and then indiscriminately against
Muslims and their religious sites.
Interim President Djotodia's January 10 resignation
occurred only after his rule had bankrupted the government and
left a path of destruction and lawlessness that pervades the
entire country today. U.N. agencies and human rights
organizations have estimated that over 600,000 persons have
been displaced since the beginning of the Seleka rebellion in
late 2012.
Just since December 2013, at least 2,000 people have been
killed, and another 100,000 have fled the country. We are
particularly concerned that the imminent threat against Muslim
civilians has forced many to abandon their homes and
communities and to seek help from U.N. humanitarian agencies,
the African Union, and the French peacekeeping forces to
relocate within the Central African Republic or to neighboring
countries.
Just last weekend, at the urgent request of Muslim
civilians in the PK12 neighborhood of Bangui, peacekeeping
forces transported over 1,200 people to towns in the northern
part of the country. As soon as those folks departed, the
remaining local population attacked and destroyed the mosque
and looted the homes of those who had left.
This forced relocation of Muslims from their homes and
communities is deeply disturbing and fundamentally alters the
religious composition and character of CAR's towns and regions.
The violence unleashed by Seleka and then compounded by the
anti-balaka militias may have permanently changed CAR's
historic tradition of religious tolerance and coexistence.
In Bangui alone, an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 Muslims remain
out of an estimated previous population of approximately
100,000, and only five of the 37 mosques are still standing. My
colleague Anne Richard, Assistant Secretary of State for
Population, Refugees, and Migration, traveled to Bangui on
April 7. I will defer to her for additional comments about the
humanitarian conditions she witnessed and our humanitarian
response.
If you will allow me, I would like to explain just what the
U.S. Government has done over the past month since her visit to
address and stem the communal violence. On April 8th, the U.S.
Special Envoy to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Rashad
Hussain and the Department of State's Senior Advisor on CAR
David Brown, who is here today, led an interfaith delegation of
religious leaders from the United States to demonstrate
solidarity among religious communities and promote
reconciliation.
In a show of support for this reconciliation, interfaith
participants from the CAR, as well as representatives from the
government, civil society, and armed groups, signed a
communique renouncing violence and encouraging intercommunity
and interreligious dialogue to mitigate tensions and lay the
foundation for renewed peaceful coexistence.
On April 9, Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power
and Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Linda
Thomas-Greenfield, made their second visit to the CAR in a span
of 4 months. Ranking Member Bass participated in the
delegation's visit and witnessed firsthand the dire conditions
in the country.
During their visit, Ambassador Power, Assistant Secretary
Thomas-Greenfield and Representative Bass met with transitional
President Catherine Samba-Panza, commanders of the 7,000-strong
African Union and French peacekeeping forces, and members of
civil society to express our continued and unwavering
determination to end the violence and support, the
reestablishment of legitimate government.
We pledged to work with the government and the
international community to help her administration. In response
to her request, we will specifically work to reestablish local
law enforcement, transitional justice, and accountability
capabilities to end impunity which has contributed to continued
violence against civilians.
We are pleased that several countries in the region, the
World Bank, the European Union, and other development partners
have come forward to help finance basic government services and
support alternative work programs that will help put CAR
citizens back to work.
While we commend the leadership of the African Union and
the efforts of the African Union MISCA force with support from
the French, we also agree with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-
moon's assessment that a U.N. peacekeeping force with both
military and civilian components is needed to address the
crisis in a comprehensive way.
On April 10, the United States joined the other members of
the U.N. Security Council in unanimously adopting Resolution
2149 which establishes the U.N. peacekeeping operation in the
Central African Republic, known as MINUSCA, with up to 10,000
military personnel, 1,800 police, and 20 corrections officers.
MINUSCA will build on the strong work and sacrifice made by
MISCA and the French forces as well as the European troops that
are in the process of joining them in the CAR. MINUSCA will
have the responsibility not only to protect civilians but also
to support the reestablishment of governance, election
preparations, disarmament and demobilization of combatants,
protection of human rights, and accountability for human rights
abuses.
The United States will continue to reinforce the MISCA
mission in advance of the transition to MINUSCA in September to
maintain and increase MISCA's ability to protect the civilian
population. We have committed up to $100 million to support
MISCA including by providing airlift to over 1,700 peacekeepers
to date, nonlethal equipment, and 200 additional vehicles.
Thirty-seven vehicles have already been delivered to increase
the ability of troops on the ground.
On April 10, the United States also announced additional
humanitarian assistance to the CAR, bringing our humanitarian
assistance since October 1, 2013, to $67 million. To support
the essential work of reconciliation and peace building, we
have committed an additional $7.5 million to nongovernmental
organizations to support their courageous work with CAR's
religious leaders who are promoting conflict resolution
initiatives to encourage peace, forgiveness, and nonviolence in
flashpoint areas of the country.
We strongly believe that it is important to hold
accountable all individuals responsible for atrocities being
committed, and we are actively working with the United Nations
Security Council to implement targeted sanctions against
political spoilers and the individuals perpetrating the
violence. As Secretary of State Kerry stated, the United States
is prepared to implement targeted sanctions against those who
further destabilize the situation or pursue their own selfish
ends by abetting or encouraging violence.
Finally, I am pleased to announce that the Department of
State has appointed Ambassador Stuart Symington as our Special
Representative for the Central African Republic. He will begin
his work later this month. Ambassador Symington will play a
leading role in shaping and coordinating U.S. strategy toward
the CAR to end the violence, addressing humanitarian needs,
establishing legitimate governance, creating judicial
mechanisms for ensuring accountability for those suspected of
perpetrating human rights abuses, and helping the CAR move
through an inclusive transition process leading to democratic
elections.
Chairman Smith, Ranking Member Bass, and other members of
the subcommittee, we are determined and committed to ending the
human suffering in CAR and supporting a peaceful and durable
resolution to the crisis. We remain engaged with our
international partners, and we look forward to keeping you and
the committee engaged and informed of our efforts. I would be
pleased to answer your questions. Thank you very much.
[The prepared statement of Ambassador Jackson follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
----------
Mr. Smith. Ambassador Jackson, thank you very much for your
testimony and for your work. It is all appreciated.
I would like to now yield to Assistant Secretary Anne
Richard for her testimony.
STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE ANNE RICHARD, ASSISTANT SECRETARY,
BUREAU OF POPULATION, REFUGEES AND MIGRATION, U.S. DEPARTMENT
OF STATE
Ms. Richard. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, Ranking
Member Bass, other members of the subcommittee, and thank you
throughout the year for your dedication to human rights and
humanitarian causes. We greatly appreciate that. And I
appreciate the opportunity today to brief you on the
humanitarian crisis in the Central African Republic.
As you said, it is unusual to have two witnesses from the
State Department, but because I was just in Bangui at the
beginning of April we thought it might make sense to come along
and provide some eyewitness testimony from what I saw on that
trip.
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Jackson has provided
you with a comprehensive overview of the situation, so I want
to focus on my remarks on the travel that I had at the
beginning of April to Chad and also to Bangui, Central African
Republic on April 7. And I want to highlight the work that the
Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration is doing, and
also we are doing that together with U.S. Agency for
International Development to address humanitarian needs.
As you know, nearly 1 million Central Africans have been
forced to flee their homes, two-thirds are displaced within the
Central African Republic, and one-third have fled to
neighboring countries and thus are now refugees, and many of
them have fled since last December. Each and every one of these
uprooted people has stories of personal tragedy and loss
including family members killed, wives and children raped and
abused, and dreams shattered.
In Chad, I traveled to the south to areas near the border
with the Central African Republic and also toward a transit
center in N'Djamena. I spoke with one Muslim man who showed me
photos of the mutilated body of his father. The parents of five
children, including a newborn baby, told me they had lost
everything, and people have brought very little with them and
some were using what little they had to build very rudimentary
shelters to house their families.
I travel a lot to refugee situations, to displaced persons'
camps. People were in very difficult shelter situations and it
was, obviously they were in places that had been thrown
together very quickly and they were safe for the moment, but it
was certainly, what I saw was nothing for people to live in for
any length of time.
In Bangui, CAR, I spoke to several women, all Christians
and all living in extremely difficult conditions with their
children at the M'Poko airport internally displaced persons
site. And as you may have seen, Ranking Member Bass, the IDP
site is right there on the edge of the airport so we didn't
have to travel far to meet with them.
While their homes were in a nearby neighborhood they all
sought protection at the IDP camp because they were afraid that
if they went back to their homes they could be hurt in the
crossfire, in the violence, and the gunfire. In all my
meetings, security was the number one topic of concern. From
Cabinet Ministers to U.N. leaders to refugees and internally
displaced persons themselves, all spoke of the need to restore
security and a sense of law and order in the country.
And this is the number one message I want to bring to you
today is because we heard it unanimously from everyone, was
that they were concerned about the violence. When I asked
refugees why they had fled, they all mentioned fear of attack
and concern for their families. In Bangui, the Minister of
Rural Development said she had a program to distribute seeds to
farmers, but the program would be worthless if farmers did not
feel safe enough to plant their fields.
I cannot reiterate strongly enough the importance of robust
U.S. Government support to the African Union's stabilization
mission in CAR, MISCA, and the new U.N. integrated mission in
CAR, MINUSCA. The restoration of security is essential to
creating conditions that will one day permit these 1 million
uprooted people to return home.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Government is committed to working with
the international community to provide lifesaving assistance
inside CAR and in neighboring countries and to structure our
aid programs to enhance efforts to protect the displaced.
During my visit to Chad I was particularly struck by the
incredible hospitality of the Chadian people and their
government. They had not only opened their doors to 92,000
Central African refugees, but were also welcoming the return of
an equal number of Chadian migrants who had been living in the
Central African Republic for decades but were no longer safe in
the country.
I know this same degree of hospitality has been extended by
the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the
Congo, and especially Cameroon which now hosts the largest
number of refugees from the Central African Republic at
184,000.
And the other point to make about Chad as you all well know
is that they have for over a decade hosted refugees from
Darfur, so they already had many refugees living in the
country. I was also tremendously impressed by the dedication
and commitment of relief workers who at great risk to
themselves were struggling to gain access to vulnerable
populations to deliver aid including food, water, shelter, and
health care.
Sadly, relief workers too have lost their lives including
three people working with Medecins Sans Frontieres who were
killed this past weekend in northwest Central African Republic.
They were simply trying to deliver health care.
In Chad, newly arriving refugees were receiving only half
of the recommended daily food ration because World Food
Programme resources are stretched so thin. Several refugees
approached me personally and told me that they did not have
enough food to feed their children and they were very concerned
about that.
And I have to say that that doesn't usually happen when I
travel to refugee camps. Usually if people have reached a
refugee camp they are safe and they are cared for. In this
particular case, I talked to the World Food Programme about it
and they said they knew that the food was under the recommended
levels and they did not blame the United States. They said the
United States had been generous but that the other countries
had not come through with their shares.
In CAR, conditions in the IDP camp at the Bangui airport
were deplorable in terms of overcrowding. Shelter was poor.
International nongovernmental organizations in partnership with
local authorities were doing their best to address gaps. It is
clear to me that the nearly $67 million the U.S. Government
through the PRM Bureau and also through USAID have provided so
far this year is money well-invested. Our work is certainly not
over.
Since my return, the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner
for Refugees found it necessary to take the extraordinary step
of evacuating the last Muslim population from Bossangoa and
taking them to Chad, essentially helping them to become
refugees, and we are not normally in the business of turning
people into refugees. We normally try to prevent that situation
from occurring. Others in Bangui have been evacuated to safer
spots inside CAR. These are extraordinary steps and they were
not taken lightly. It was done to avoid massacres, frankly, and
so very much as a last resort measure.
On April 16, the United Nations released its 2014 Central
African Republic Regional Response Plan which calls for $274
million to address the crisis. We will review both appeals and
provide additional funding in the near future. Thanks to
Congress, and this is a very important point, thanks to
Congress we have appropriations to do more this year, but as
you know we are contending with too many humanitarian
emergencies. Unrest in the Central African Republic is
happening at the same time as upheaval and violence in South
Sudan. Secretary Kerry is in meetings today in Addis about
South Sudan and widespread conflict in Syria.
While humanitarian funding will certainly help keep people
alive, let me again remind you of the plea made by refugees and
IDPs during my recent visit. Above all else they wanted a
return to security and stability in the Central African
Republic. They wanted conditions that would permit them to
return home, rebuild their lives, rebuild their homes, go back
to work in their places of business. This should be our highest
priority as well.
Representative Smith, Ranking Member Bass, and members of
the subcommittee, I thank you for your support and for giving
me the opportunity to address you today and I am happy to
answer your questions.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Richard follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
----------
Mr. Smith. Thank you so very much, Ms. Richard. To begin
the questioning just let me ask a number of questions starting
with Mr. Ambassador. With regards to peacekeeping, when can we
realistically expect peacekeepers to be on the ground
displacing those who are being augmented out because of those
conflicts that we all know and vested interests that have
compromised their mission? Are we talking the fall? And is
there any way to accelerate that process? Because delay is
denial obviously for those who are being hurt and/or killed.
Let me ask you as well, and maybe this would be to you, Ms.
Richard. My understanding is that our humanitarian assistance
numbers approximately $67 million. And the question would
arise, why are faith-based organizations only getting $7.5
million given the outsize role that they are playing in the
Central African Republic?
As we know, when Bishop Nongo was here, he was concerned
that he is sheltering 35,000 people. And how much assistance
are we giving to those NGOs or faith-based entities that could
have high-impact because they know and are understood and
respected by the people that they deal with? It seems that that
ratio is very much skewed toward not helping faith-based
entities, and if you could give some insight into that.
Kasper Agger from Enough makes the point in his testimony
that combatants, politicians, businessmen, and diplomats were
all giving him the same excuses and reasons for the crisis in
the country, lack of leadership and exclusion of citizens. But
he also makes the point that--and I thought this was very
interesting--that some of the key drivers of violence are the
diamonds and the poaching. And if you could speak to that issue
and that there is a need for sustained, regional U.S.
diplomatic engagement that looks at those aspects of it. How do
we dry up those nefarious enterprises?
Let me also ask you as well, Madeline Rose in her testimony
points out that if we fail to address CAR's crisis quickly and
correctly, Mercy Corps is concerned that the situation could
metastasize into a new decades-long conflict transcending the
corridor from the Sahel to South Sudan, and makes the point
that even with the anticipated EU reinforcements, the enormity
of challenge for peacekeepers outstrips capacities.
Is this designed potentially to fail? And I am not assuming
any ill will here, but is it being driven by insufficient
resources? You just mentioned that other countries have not
come through with their commitments. How much of an unmet need
do we have with regards to peacekeeping?
What kind of force is needed ideally to really end this
violence, and is what is configured enough? Is the money
enough? How much are we giving to peacekeeping? What are the
others giving? And maybe this one could be for the records, but
when you say other countries are not coming through, if there
could be a listing of those countries, commitments made,
commitments unmet, and there are large numbers of countries
that could do a heck of a lot more, I would think, that are not
doing it.
And finally, and I will have other questions, but maybe you
could start with those and then I will get back.
Ambassador Jackson. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As for the
U.N. peacekeeping force, we anticipate their arrival in mid-
September. However, I want to note that the U.N. has already
had senior officials on the ground to do the planning and the
coordinating with the African Union and French forces, and
European Union troops are beginning to arrive and they have
started to train 480 police and gendarmes from Central African
Republic.
We are also today having Assistant Secretary Thomas-
Greenfield, who is with Secretary Kerry in Addis Ababa, meet
with the African Union to discuss the deployment of additional
African troops from Burundi and Rwanda. We hope that that will
take place very soon and we are positioned to move those troops
quickly. These troops would replace the Chadians who withdrew
at the end of March.
Mr. Smith. About how many are we talking about, and what
would be the force that would make the difference and are we
getting close to that or at that number?
Ambassador Jackson. Mr. Chairman, I honestly don't know
what the force need is. We will be going from 7,000 to about
8,200 with the arrival of these additional troops, assuming
that the African Union approves both the Rwandan and Burundi
contributions. The EU presence will go from about 100 at
present to 500 present so that will bring us up to close to
9,000.
Mr. Smith. Do military planners at the Pentagon and at the
U.N. say that that is a sufficient force with a robust mandate
to bring some peace to these people who are suffering?
Ambassador Jackson. Well, let me answer your question a bit
differently, Mr. Chairman. In terms of displaced people in
Bangui, we have seen the number decline from 500,000 to
200,000, which is not to suggest that the situation is not
atrocious. And the removal of the Muslims and the flight of the
Muslims contributes to those numbers, so I don't want to be
misleading.
But the fact that the number of internally displaced people
in Bangui is declining, I think, shows that MISCA and the
French forces are having some impact. And as we get these
police and gendarmes trained, we are hopeful that those numbers
will be sufficient to restore security. I think we are going to
have to look at this on a regular basis and see what progress
is being made, but to date the progress is not adequate and we
acknowledge that.
As for peacekeeping more broadly, our missions and the U.N.
missions in Mali and South Sudan are both under-subscribed. We
are in conversations with partners about plussing up those
missions as well as contributing to the mission in Central
African Republic, but it has been a difficult process to
identify capable peacekeepers.
Finally, you spoke about diamonds and poaching. Central
African diamond exports are currently suspended under the
Kimberley Process, but we are hopeful that as the government
can restore authority in combination with the peacekeepers that
legal diamond exports can once again start, and this would
provide the government with revenue that is needed to pay
salaries and provide other basic services.
As for poaching, because of the conflict it is difficult to
know how much poaching has taken place, but it is clearly a
problem in the Central African Republic as one of the countries
that still has a significant population of elephants to poach.
Mr. Smith. Thank you.
Ms. Richard. On the question of the funding distribution,
it is true the U.S. is providing nearly $7.5 million in funding
to support conflict mitigation, reconciliation, and
peacebuilding including interreligious peacebuilding efforts. I
would expect that these efforts would not require as much
funding as the type of large-scale humanitarian operations that
are being carried out for so many people in the Central African
Republic and in the region. All of the neighboring countries
are affected.
And in addition, some of the nongovernmental organizations
that are responding to humanitarian work are indeed faith-based
groups and that includes Catholic Relief Services that is
speaking today and that gets funding from the USAID's Office of
Foreign Disaster Assistance. And they are on the list of one of
the groups that is providing logistic support and relief
commodities in the region.
And then in addition, we have several high-level
delegations going as you heard, and one of those was an
interfaith group from the U.S., so that is additional costs
that are not reflected in the $7.5 million. I think we are
doing a lot, and I think that some of it is reflected in the
funding and some of it is perhaps diplomatic efforts that are
within the State Departments base budget.
So we have the $100 million you have heard to support the
current peacekeeping. We will support the U.N.'s peacekeepers
as we do year in and year out thanks to congressional
appropriations. The $67 million in humanitarian assistance
working with nongovernmental organizations that are across the
country, and I think this network of nongovernmental
organizations that are normal partners but that are present in
really sort of far-flung locations, hard to reach places across
Central African Republic, is very, very important for us.
Working in the neighboring countries, the U.N. is moving
people away from threats as you have heard. The high-level
visits, Samantha Power going twice but also other groups, our
diplomats have participated in all the conferences on the
Central African Republic that have taken place in New York, in
Brussels, in Africa.
We have now Stu Symington named as the Special
Representative. We are looking into having, restoring the
diplomatic presence in Bangui and that was also going on during
this early April set of visits. And then in addition to that we
have this money for conflict mitigation and peacebuilding.
Mr. Smith. Could you provide us a list of groups that are
getting the money, the humanitarian assistance, and what might
be anticipated going forward particularly as it relates to
faith-based? Because again, I was moved and I am sure the
subcommitte was that Bishop Nongo was dealing with so much on
an absolute shoestring. And he was not going to let a single
person go unhelped even if he didn't have the money.
I mean it was just, and it seems to me we need to be
backstopping people that are on the ground, have the
credibility, and have a record as he and so many others do, and
so I just hope we are not bypassing them unwittingly or for any
other reason. So if you could provide that for us that would be
very helpful.
Ms. Richard. Absolutely. On the issue of other countries
not providing funding, the World Food Programme resources are
stretched thin, not just in the Central African Republic but in
the entire region and it is a very difficult situation. And
they are doing so much good work there and also in the Middle
East with the Syria crisis too.
So I regularly meet with World Food Programme colleagues.
As you know, an American runs the World Food Programme. One of
their issues is that the European Union's humanitarians, ECHO,
had a cash flow problem, so they will have funding later this
year. They will provide it. But you can't go back in time and
take that funding to feed people. And so this is an example
where a cash-flow problem, which is not unheard of in
Washington sometimes, is actually having real damage on the
ground. And so that is a shame.
And then the other thing that we would like to do is bring
new donors to the table, and we have succeeded in some respects
with the Syria crisis in getting Gulf states more involved. But
we need more countries to step forward and take up the
humanitarian cause and provide funding so that the U.S. share
stays at an appropriate level. A robust level, a healthy level
thanks to you all, but also that it be a multilateral
undertaking.
Finally, you had asked about restoring law and order. I
really think in talking to experts that it is not just a matter
of peacekeepers, it is also a matter of the police, the
judicial system, the prisons. This is not my area, but this is
what I heard from people there.
So in coming back, Linda Thomas-Greenfield and I have met
with Bill Brownfield who is our counterpart, Assistant
Secretary for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement, and
we are all working to try to figure out what particular role
can the U.S. play, in addition to what other countries are
doing, to help ordinary citizens enjoy the basic public safety
that they used to enjoy in Bangui and other cities and towns.
Mr. Smith. Lastly, Mr. Ambassador, you said pre-genocidal
stage at your last hearings here. Is it genocidal now?
Ambassador Jackson. Mr. Chairman, we really haven't
considered the question of whether it is genocidal or not. The
fact is, horrible atrocities are taking place and we know that
at least 2,000 people have died. I don't think it matters what
word we use, but the situation is horrible and we are doing
everything we can to reverse it.
Mr. Smith. I appreciate that. I do think it matters but I
respect the difference.
Ms. Bass?
Ms. Bass. Alright, I know that there is going to be a call
for a vote soon, so we know we will be interrupted, but anyway,
I will get started.
I am real concerned about, as I mentioned in my opening
comments about the displacement of the Muslim population and
essentially the stage that that sets especially for extremists
to kind of enter that population. And I believe, Ambassador
Jackson, you were talking about the movement of the population
toward the north.
So I am wondering if, I mean, I am sure you share those
concerns, but if there is any evidence of that becoming
problematic in terms of outside forces coming in and trying to
take advantage of the fact, the revenge killings that have
happened.
Ambassador Jackson. Congresswoman, we have certainly been
looking at the question of outside forces coming in just as the
Lord's Resistance Army has come in. To date we have not seen
that happening. But this separation of religious communities
and de facto partition of the country into Christian and Muslim
areas is very troubling, and I believe that the sooner we can
restore basic security so that people feel safe returning to
their homes, the sooner that we will be able to address this
problem and avoid long-term partition and consequences that
would come from that.
Ms. Bass. One of the things about Rwanda that was so, just
hard to imagine but I know it is one of the reasons why the
country has been successful in its development since the
genocide, but their whole reconciliation process, the fact that
people really live down the street and their neighbors are
folks that might have slaughtered members of their family.
And I am just wondering, I was just there for just such a
brief time, but if the Rwandans are involved in terms of
helping the CAR leadership toward the future of how to have a
reconciliation process.
Ambassador Jackson. I don't know if there have been formal
discussions, but one of the reasons we have been so pleased to
have Rwanda and Burundi contribute peacekeepers is because of
their own history of genocide in both countries. And we believe
that the troops can talk with people, engage with people, and
encourage them to avoid the conflict that we are seeing.
Ms. Bass. And we did go to Burundi and so certainly had
some concerns about what we saw there and what looms there in
terms of the election next year. You mentioned the food supply
as being below what is needed. And I believe, Ambassador
Richard, you said that the U.S. had been generous but other
countries had been lacking. And I believe the chairman asked
the same question in terms of which countries and dollar amount
and whether you can answer it now or not. Is that pretty much
what you were asking? I would like to know that information as
well, because I am wondering if there are ways that we can step
up pressure on those other countries so that they do carry
their fair share.
Ms. Richard. Well, we can work with the USAID to get you
the breakdown of who is contributing to the World Food
Programme and specifically in the Central African Republic and
in the region. But I want to repeat that one missing partner
who is normally there with us are the Europeans, and it is an
unusual thing this year that they are having cash flow
problems.
So normally, the U.S. and Europe together lead the world in
humanitarian response, and other countries that year in and
year out step forward including Europeans and the European
Union are the Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders, Japan,
Korea more and more. Turkey, I met yesterday with the Turkish
Ambassador, Turkey is stepping forward to play a larger role as
a donor internationally. And then with Syria we see Gulf states
stepping forward.
But we would like to see more countries who haven't been
traditional donors join us, especially in a year like this one
where we have three of what the United Nations call Level 3
emergencies. Syria, South Sudan, and the Central African
Republic. And I am proud that our country is doing so much. I
am proud when I meet with my counterparts from other countries
that I can speak up about how much Americans are doing. But I
also think this system only works when other countries join us
in these kinds of enterprises.
Ms. Bass. Well, France is certainly playing a leading role.
What are they doing in terms of pushing other EU countries?
Ms. Richard. France is playing a leading role in the
situation in this particular country, and also in terms of the
peacekeeping piece of it.
Ms. Bass. Right.
Ms. Richard. But they are not leaders necessarily on the
humanitarian funding piece, whereas in Brussels they do get
credit for contributing to the overall European contributions.
But also DFID, the Department for International Development in
London is the leading donor as well. Within Europe, the UK is
really the top donor, I think, with us on the international
stage.
Ms. Bass. So last question. I am wondering about the
diaspora that is here and if you feel there might be a role
that the diaspora that is here can play. There is a young man
in the audience who often comes to the hearings, Yves Kongolo,
who is from the Central African Republic and has an NGO. And I
often work in the breakfasts and the other programs that we do
here on the Hill, work a lot with the diaspora, and I am just
wondering if you have any thoughts about how the diaspora here
might be helpful there.
Ms. Richard. It is a great question. I haven't met with
members of the diaspora from the Central African Republic. I
regularly meet with diasporas. Syrian-Americans. I met recently
with Eritrean-Americans. Because we run the program, response
to the program to resettle refugees in the United States, I am
regularly meeting with Somalis around the United States, and
more and more Iraqis around the United States.
So it would not come as a surprise to any of you that we
love working with diasporas, meeting with diasporas, and
figuring out ways to bring their talents, connections, ability
to message, especially in the case here of messages of peace,
reconciliation, stability, tolerance. I think that is a key
thing that they could play.
Ms. Bass. Well, maybe you have just described a role that
we could play, which is to facilitate that introduction for
you. Because I hear all the time of people wanting to play very
specific roles exactly like that but also in development. So I
will have another group of diaspora for you to meet with.
Ms. Richard. Happy to.
Mr. Smith. Mr. Weber.
Mr. Weber. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I guess this
question is for you, Mr. Jackson, or for you, Ms. Richard,
either one. The Chadian soldiers that came in and killed,
remember, and injured so many. Any identification? Any idea who
they are? Any accountability there?
Ambassador Jackson. Congressman Weber, we don't really know
who they are. But we will be looking at the units in terms of
Leahy vetting for future training, and the need to look very
carefully at the participation of Chadians in future
peacekeeping operations based on their conduct in the Central
African Republic.
Mr. Weber. Well, I think long term we need to be sending
the signal that that won't be tolerated and somehow there has
to be accountability and the perpetrators brought to justice so
that there is no recurring incidents of that nature. Any way to
put pressure on their government to do that to aid in that?
Ambassador Jackson. I understand that the Chadian
Government is doing an investigation and we will look to ensure
that they are held to account for their actions.
Mr. Weber. I guess unlike the other mall shootings there is
no video. There is absolutely no evidence to this, or is that--
--
Ambassador Jackson. I am not aware of any video. The only
thing that I am aware of are testimonies by some of the
victims.
Mr. Weber. Which one of our agencies coordinates with the
Chadian Government to say you have got to do more to bring
these perpetrators to justice? Who follows that up?
Ambassador Jackson. The Department of State does, and
specifically our Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues,
Ambassador Rapp, and he has been in the region.
Mr. Weber. Okay. I was doing a little research on that
event, and even Aljazeera, the news organization, said this was
an underreported occurrence. I didn't see it. I looked at some
of the other news agencies and I actually saw it, but they
didn't give it the same coverage. So I think it is imperative
for us to keep on the forefront and to keep that pressure on so
that those kinds of people know that we won't allow this going
forward. I think I remember----
Ms. Richard. Congressman?
Mr. Weber. Yes, ma'am?
Ms. Richard. It may have been underreported in the United
States. There was a lot of coverage of it in the region, and
the reason I know that is because it was still unfolding during
our visit. And when I was in Chad they decided to bring their
peacekeepers home, and at the same time there was a U.N. report
on the incident that came out. So there has been a lot of
attention, and these situations are complicated because you
don't want peacekeepers abusing people in any way, shape or
form. They are there to protect people.
At the same time, we had Chad doing so much to try to
restore stability overall and we needed more peacekeepers, not
less. So you are absolutely right that you cannot support, we
cannot support sending people to a country where they abuse the
local people. That is not the purpose at all, and so we have to
be vigilant in keeping that from happening in the first place
and then holding people accountable when it does happen.
But I do think there is attention being paid to it, and I
am sorry we don't have specific answers for you today, and I
think we have to stay on top of it.
Mr. Weber. Okay, thank you. I remember our colleague over
here, Ranking Member Bass, I think she said religious
differences were not the origin of the conflict. Would you
elaborate on what you think is the origin of the conflict?
Ambassador Jackson. Congressman, this is a country that has
had a long tradition of conflict. You will remember that
Emperor Bokassa was famous for his cannibalism. This is a
country that has had conflicts between grazers and
agriculturists. We have seen coup after coup. This is the third
time that we have evacuated our Embassy because of unrest in
the Central African Republic. There is a long and sad history
here. I hope this time that we can do better to get it right so
that we don't have another repetition of the unrest.
Mr. Weber. Some of my research said the former President or
Prime Minister bankrupted the country, had a lot of graft, a
lot of corruption, and then he was basically was gone. Whatever
happened to him? Was there any attempt to hold him accountable?
Ambassador Jackson. We have actually spoken with former
President Bozize, and encouraged him to issue public statements
calling for calm. We are looking at his role in the current
violence. And again, as my colleague said, we want to hold
those accountable for the violence responsible.
Mr. Weber. Okay. And then I think you all said earlier
that--and we are running out of time. I know they have called
votes. You are expecting some more peacekeeping forces in mid-
September, 480 gendarmes?
Ambassador Jackson. There are 480 gendarmes. They are
Central Africans who are undergoing training at present. I
would expect that they would be active long before September.
Mr. Weber. What does that make the total? You said 7,000 to
8,000?
Ambassador Jackson. So we are currently at approximately
7,000. We are looking at adding a battalion of Rwandans which
would be 850 people. We are looking at adding 400 peacekeepers
from Burundi. That would bring the total to about 8,200, plus
500 European troops from various countries would be 8,700 in
total, prior to September when the peacekeeping operation would
come into effect.
And if I may add, Congressman, I think it is really
important to note that while the U.N. peacekeepers are not yet
in place some of the troops that are there will transition to
the U.N. force. But the U.N. political mission is in place and
the deputy is our former Ambassador to the Central African
Republic, Ambassador Larry Wohlers.
Mr. Weber. Okay. In the interest of time I am going to
yield back. Thank you.
Mr. Smith. Mr. Marino?
Mr. Marino. Thank you. I am going to do a lightning round
here. I am not able to come back, I have another commitment.
But get your pencils out please, and this should be a matter of
record. First of all, why has not the International Criminal
Court interceded in here in going after these murderers? Number
one.
Number two, you said that the troops will be, U.N. troops
will get there in September of this year. Why so long? And I am
not saying so long in a pejorative sense because perhaps you
can describe the process you have to go through. I do not
understand the process, and if anything takes more than 5
minutes for me it is too long. How many U.N. troops will be
there? When did these murders start to show up on State's radar
and the U.N. as well, I am curious to see, because that goes
into my question as why is it taking so long.
Are the Muslim and Christian world leaders, the world
leaders of the Muslims and Christians, are they standing up and
saying to their religious followers, knock this off, or do they
have any role in visiting, or representatives visiting over
there telling their religious followers that this will not be
tolerated from their religious standpoint?
And since 1996, the DRC, it has been embroiled in violence.
Over 5.4 million people have been killed. That is something
that just does not take place over a year. It has taken place
over years, and my question is, why not long before this? And
with that I yield back.
Ambassador Jackson. So I will try to respond very quickly.
We have become very aware of the murders since November and
December, and that is when the bulk of the violence has taken
place. In terms of the movement of the U.N. peacekeepers, the
recruitment is what takes so long. One of the reasons that the
State Department and the U.S. Government supported the standing
up the African Union force was precisely because they could
deploy faster than the U.N. and since we are seeing a roughly
6-month timetable for U.N. deployment, I think that our
conclusion that we needed to get the African troops in place
was the right one.
But it is very important to make this transition to a force
that will have roughly 8,000 troops soon to almost 12,000 in
September, assuming we can find additional peacekeepers. And
the religious leaders from various countries including the Holy
See are taking an active role.
Foreign Ministers of Turkey and Guinea were just in Central
African Republic this week talking with religious leaders. The
Organization of the Islamic Conference Special Envoy, the
former Foreign Minister of Senegal, Cheikh Tidiane Gadio, was
there with them. We believe that the religious leaders are
working well with their counterparts in Central African
Republic and doing what they can to appease the situation.
Mr. Marino. But don't you think it would be beneficial if
the religious leaders came out on an international level and
made these statements?
Ambassador Jackson. I do think it would be useful. And just
as we broadcast President Obama's message to Central Africans
in December, I think having messages from world religious
leaders could be useful and it is something that we have been
discussing as we bring religious leaders to visit Central
African Republic.
Mr. Smith. Thank you. Can I just ask you--we are out of
time on this vote, but what role, if any, has the Atrocities
Prevention Board played? Again, I mean we have all been raising
issues. You have been raising this. Have they been AWOL or have
they been very much a part of the effort to try to prevent and
now resolve this?
Ambassador Jackson. Mr. Chairman, the Atrocities Prevention
Board has met. Their most recent meeting was looking at Nigeria
and Burundi. But there have been regular meetings and we have
been working hand in hand to make certain----
Mr. Smith. They met on CAR?
Ambassador Jackson. I haven't seen the agenda for all the
meetings, but I believe--I can get back to you on that.
Mr. Smith. Would you get back to us? Because we certainly
haven't heard any outcomes document or any recommendations from
them. I am just wondering what role they have played. Because
it was stood up with great fanfare as I said in my opening, and
it certainly has a great deal of promise. Is that promise being
met?
Ambassador Jackson. Mr. Chairman?
Mr. Smith. Yes.
Ambassador Jackson. I apologize. My colleague just advised
that there has been at least one APB meeting on Central African
Republic.
Mr. Smith. Do you know what their recommendations were?
Ambassador Jackson. I do not, but I will get back to you.
Mr. Smith. Because it would seem that people like yourself,
you should at least know what this group is recommending. Thank
you.
We stand in brief recess. I do have a number of other
questions but the vote precludes that. A brief recess and then
we will come back to our second panel. And thank you so very
much.
[Recess.]
Mr. Smith. The subcommittee will reconvene, and I want to
apologize to all of our very distinguished witnesses for that
delay. We did have a series of votes. There was no way we could
cut that any shorter.
I would like to begin with our second panel and beginning
first with Mr. Scott Campbell, who is the Catholic Relief
Services regional director for Central Africa. He coordinates
CRS programs in Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Central African
Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the
Republic of Congo, and Rwanda.
Since joining CRS, Mr. Campbell has coordinated food aid
during the Kosovo crisis, overseen the emergency response to
the 2004 tsunami in the northern Indonesian province of Aceh,
and directed CRS's response to the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. He
also served as CRS's county representative to Angola, Haiti,
and the Philippines.
And I would note parenthetically that I myself, along with
a few other members, were in Aceh and applaud the work that was
done during the tsunami in 2004 by CRS, and it is great to know
that you were there making sure that that all happened because
otherwise it would have been far worse than it actually was.
I would then like to introduce Ms. Madeline Rose, who is a
policy and advocacy advisor for Mercy Corps, a global aid
agency that provides assistance to those living in countries
suffering from natural disaster, economic collapse, or
conflict. She leads Mercy Corps' policy and advocacy portfolios
on sub-Saharan African programs, including work with youth,
development in fragile states, counterterrorism and
humanitarian access, encountering violent extremism, and
atrocity prevention.
She has also worked for the Friends Committee on National
Legislation, in Congress, at the United Nations with community-
based organizations in Zimbabwe, South Africa, and for the
Silicon Valley tech company, NetApp.
We will then hear from Mr. Kasper Agger who is a Uganda-
based field researcher for the Enough Project. We certainly
have had John Prendergast here many times, who heads up Enough,
a nongovernmental initiative dedicated to ending genocide and
crimes against humanity. His work focuses on the Lord's
Resistance Army and includes on-the-ground research in the
remote areas of Uganda, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of
the Congo, and the Central African Republic, that have been
most affected by the LRA crisis.
Mr. Agger's advocacy-based research aims to identify
recommendations and solutions to the LRA conflict. Prior to
joining the Enough Project, he worked for the Northern Uganda
Peace Initiative and the U.N. Environmental Programme.
We will then hear from the Honorable Robin Renee Sanders,
who is the CEO of the FEEEDS Advocacy Initiative and and owns
FE3DS, LLC, both of which craft economic development and
business strategies for Africa. At these organizations, she
focuses on food security, education, the environment and
energy, economics, development, and self-help programs,
particularly for small and medium enterprises.
Prior to this, she served as the U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria
and the Republic of Congo and was the U.S. Permanent
Representative to ECOWAS. She served twice as Africa Director
of the National Security Council at the White House. We have a
very distinguished panel of knowledgeable experts, and I would
like to now yield to Mr. Campbell to begin the testimony.
STATEMENT OF MR. SCOTT CAMPBELL, REGIONAL DIRECTOR FOR CENTRAL
AFRICA, CATHOLIC RELIEF SERVICES
Mr. Campbell. Thank you, Chairman Smith, for this
opportunity to testify on behalf of Catholic Relief Services.
We are very grateful to you and your leadership and the
interest in the future of the Central African Republic and its
people.
So I am Scott Campbell. I am the regional director for
Catholic Relief Services covering the Central Africa region,
and that is seven countries, the two Congos, Rwanda, Burundi,
Chad, Cameroon, and Central African Republic. CRS is present in
about 100 countries around the world and providing humanitarian
assistance and development programming. We have been in CAR
since 1999 doing programming and work very closely with our
church partners in the country. Our work is mostly funded by
the U.S. Government, CRS private funds, and other Caritas
sister agencies.
I was recently in CAR for a 3-week period just before
Christmas to mid-January, and then again for 3 weeks in March.
In fact, my colleague, Ms. Rose, I met her there during the
second visit. So I would like to share with you a few ideas
about what has transpired there in the country and how we are
prioritizing our work.
First of all, CRS is present throughout the whole breadth
of the country, from the southeast covering Obo, Zinga, Rafai,
Bangassou, in the LRA-affected areas. And we have a very
important USAID-funded program there, working with communities
affected by the Lord's Resistance Army. We are present in the
capital with our partners, in the south in Lobaye Province,
Mbaike, and Boda, as well as in the northwest in Bossangoa and
Boda. And during my most recent trip I was in Bossangoa and saw
the refugees, as you explained earlier in this testimony.
And during that visit, I was involved with the distribution
of non-food items to communities that just a few weeks prior
had been attacked by Seleka rebels, and this was in the area
called Kuki. That whole area had been completely pillaged or
burned down, and almost all of the houses, people had very
little left, and of course, as you are well aware, people had
very little to begin with even before the crisis. So the
situation is truly desperate for tens of thousands of people.
CRS is also distributing, and will be, 7,500 households,
reaching 37,500 people. We have done that already in Bossangoa,
and we will do the same in the coming months in Bossangoa as
well as Lobaye in the south. In those same areas, we have an
initial plan to provide shelter kits for households that have
been destroyed during the same month, in May, and the kits
include wood for windows, doors, and tarps for roofing.
The pillaging and destruction has also rendered much of the
country extremely food-insecure. This is the second consecutive
planting season that has been hampered by the crisis. Seeds,
tools, farm animals are scarce or non-existent in much of the
region. And with the planting season upon us, CRS is
distributing seeds for staple crops and farming tools for
10,000 households to respond to the critical food security
situation.
Additionally, other economic activities have been
disrupted, making life even more difficult. Trading and
importation of goods have been hindered because Muslim traders
have fled or truckers fear to enter the country because of
attacks and looting.
When I was in Kuki and areas of Bossangoa, I saw heaps of
cotton that had not been sold, and this is cotton that had been
harvested from last year. So the much-needed cash income has
not been flowing because of the crisis. And, generally, more
than half the country will need some sort of humanitarian
assistance as a result.
But dire as this situation is, much of what I have been
describing concerns the exterior, what we see on the outside of
the people who are affected. A more compelling story, however,
is what is happening inside people's hearts and minds because
of the problem.
It is critically important, first, to understand that this
is not a religious war. No head of any faith group has led the
fight against another faith group. I spoke to leaders in
Bossangoa myself, including the mayor and his deputies in that
city, and heard from them that they did not want to see their
Muslim neighbors leaving the country.
We spoke to the youth and women of the IDP camp, Ecole
Liberte, which ironically means in Liberty School when in fact
it was very much like a prison. And they also expressed the
desire to stay. So there is a willingness among a significant
portion of the population to return to the pre-crisis reality
where people lived and worked together harmoniously and in
peace.
To that end, CRS has been working directly with the Inter-
Religious Platform led by the Catholic Archbishop of Bangui,
the President of the CAR Islamic Community, and the leader of
the Evangelical Alliance. CRS has brought together faith
leaders in Bangui and Bossangoa in their respective communities
to participate in 2-to-3-day workshops on social cohesion and
reconciliation.
This has also since included parliamentarians and other
community leaders, and we are closely working with the Minister
of Communications and Reconciliation of the new interim
government. In fact, we will be sending her to Rwanda to see
how the process worked in that country. In fact, CRS was part
of that process over the past 20 years, and one of our Rwandan
staff is now working in CAR to share the work he has done and
learned in Rwanda there in CAR.
And this whole--the workshops we have done have been truly
transformative, and I will give one example to illustrate. One
of the leaders expressed how before the workshop he had every
intention of buying a gun and shooting at least one person from
the other faith community.
At the end of the workshop, he explained, ``I don't have
those feelings anymore. I am ready for reconciliation.'' So the
hate, fear, and vengeance pent up as individuals in that
country, people need and feel that desire for release to just
prepare themselves for reconciliation with the others in their
community.
The workshops have also included Muslim faith leaders in
some of the most difficult neighborhoods in Bangui where much
of the fighting is evident. They were considered the
hardliners. They attended and, as a result, at that time
decided not to leave the country as planned. And this is just
some weeks ago. If given the opportunity, the space, and the
support, people in the country want to rebuild the social
fabric of the society.
I saw truckloads of Muslims leaving the country during my
December-January visit. Our office shares a wall with the
Embassy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and across the
street is the Ambassador to Cameroon, his residence, and they
were leaving every single day. So we have seen directly people
pouring out of the country.
So this is the first step. The workshops are a first step,
preparing the hearts and minds of leaders and communities for
peace and reconciliation, and then they can enter into a
process, a dialogue, across communities. Why this is important
is because it has an immediate effect, as I was saying earlier,
to release people from those burdens.
But it also has the longer term effect of social cohesion
to heal the wounds caused by the conflict, and which is the
most effective bulwark against manipulation of the most
extremist entities intent on serving their own aims in the
future. It really works against the radicalization that could
also be happening as these different communities move across
borders.
But more funding is required to cascade that through the
country. This is not something that can only be pinpointed in
certain areas. It should be cascaded throughout the country. So
I see that there is real hope for CAR to build back communities
as before, to be productive and harmonized.
With this in mind, CRS and the USCCB make the following
recommendations to the U.S. Government. First, adequately fund
and support U.N. peacekeeping efforts to ensure that relief and
recovery activities are tenable. Security is absolutely
paramount. We need the right conditions in order to operate
effectively.
Second, provide ongoing leadership and robust funding for
humanitarian efforts in the CAR. The U.S. Government should
also help galvanize other donors to fulfill their pledges for
humanitarian assistance in the country. All efforts must
support the displaced and those are hosting them to their
immediate needs so that their immediate needs are met, as well
as their return when conditions allow, so that they can rebuild
their livelihoods, plant their farms, and support their
families.
Support the voluntary return of refugees, so the country
can restore its rich cultural diversity. In fact, we have plans
of doing some cross-border work as well along the lines of what
I described in those workshops. In fact, the workshops are
actually paid by the U.S. Government. The USAID, people
involved were extremely quick in releasing funding to enable us
to do that in Bossangoa and then Bangui.
Also, integrate peacebuilding and conflict resolution
activities to rebuild social cohesion torn apart by the recent
fighting and to prevent future outbreaks of violence.
Third, affirm a commitment to CAR over the long term. We
commend the appointing of a Special Representative for CAR and
the U.S. Government's plan to reopen the Embassy. We further
call upon the USG to develop plans to address longer term needs
over the next 3 to 5 years. And this should prioritize
reintegration of ex militia into economic and livelihood
activities with a focus on youth. Young men need to be enrolled
in reintegration programs that are practical and lead to
productive job activities.
Prioritize long-term economic needs such as reconstruction
of people's productive assets, keeping conflict sensitivity in
mind, and recognize that elections should not be rushed. But
the process fully incorporates all CAR citizens, especially
those Muslims who have fled and wish to return. Any election
held should be well organized, free, and fair, to end the cycle
of illegitimate leaders who have neglected the needs of the
Central African people.
So, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member Bass, and the members
of the subcommittee, thank you for your time, and I am----
[The prepared statement of Mr. Campbell follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
----------
Mr. Smith. No. Thank you very much for your solid
recommendations. Thank you for the good work that Cardinal
McCarrick and so many others have done. His most recent visit I
think was galvanizing and underscored the point you made so
strongly, and that is that this is not about leaders of
religious faiths conducting either a jihad or any kind of a
religious war, but people are exploiting extremism in order to
kill and to rape and to maim. So thank you for bringing that
strongly forward.
I would like to now recognize Ms. Rose.
STATEMENT OF MS. MADELINE ROSE, POLICY & ADVOCACY ADVISOR,
MERCY CORPS
Ms. Rose. Thank you, Chairman. And I would like to submit
my full written testimony for the record.
Mr. Smith. Without objection, so ordered.
Ms. Rose. Thank you. Chairman Smith, Ranking Member Bass,
and members of the subcommittee, thank you for inviting me to
testify on behalf of Mercy Corps today, and for your leadership
in mobilizing what has become a robust and generous U.S.
Government response to the crisis in the Central African
Republic.
My name is Madeline Rose, and I am a policy advisor for
Mercy Corps, a global humanitarian agency working in over 40
crisis-affected countries in the world. Mercy Corps has worked
in CAR since 2007, managing programs ranging from emergency
response and conflict mitigation to youth empowerment and
economic development.
If there is one message that I hope you take from this
testimony, it is that right now is the moment to secure long-
term support for CAR's recovery. The window for influence is
closing, and we have to make smart investments now.
In March, I traveled to Bouar to visit Mercy Corps'
conflict mitigation and protection programs. The most
heartbreaking meeting of my trip was the one I expected to be
easiest. I met a judge with whom we have worked on access to
justice programs for survivors of gender-based violence. I
asked what challenges he was facing and how the international
community could be helpful.
His response was simple. He asked for replacement pencils
and papers, which had been looted during the crisis, so that he
could get back to work processing rape cases. Pencils. Conflict
waged all around us. Across the street I could see civilians
preparing convoys to flee to Cameroon, yet his primary request
was for a pencil to go back to work and restore a semblance of
justice to his community.
I told this story because it underscores the complexity of
an overlooked element of the CAR crisis right now. We are
dealing with a multi-faceted conflict and a humanitarian
catastrophe in one of the poorest and most underdeveloped
countries in the world. This means that every humanitarian
activity will be more expensive, capacity-building will
fundamentally take longer, and political and economic recovery
will require long-term sustained engagement.
Three weeks after this subcommittee's November 19 hearing
on the crisis, anti-balaka attacked CAR's capital, Bangui,
triggering a brutal cycle of retaliation killings between
Christians and Muslims that continues to this day. As other
witnesses have testified here today, the cycle of retaliatory
violence has spiraled so far out of control that it has
deteriorated into ethno-religious cleansing.
Ever more alarmingly, Mercy Corps sees many of the same
trends emerging in CAR today that we have seen before in the
DRC, the Sudans, and other contexts that become entrenched in
protracted violence. This includes criminality, banditry,
sexual abuses, and other crimes being committed with impunity
across the country, massive and protracted displacement and
protection crises developing in ungoverned and difficult-to-
access or militia-controlled territories, citizens growing
impatient with the absence of services from the transitional
government, losing faith in the prospects of legitimate
civilian rule, armed actors actively targeting and recruiting
disaffected youth, and, most alarmingly, popular support for de
facto ethno-religious partition of the country that would
divide the country between north and south along major natural
resource belts.
If we fail to address CAR's crisis quickly and correctly,
Mercy Corps is concerned that the situation could metastasize
into a new decades-long conflict transcending the Sahel to
South Sudan. While the current situation is horrific, it is not
hopeless. There are promising examples of community-based
protection and peacebuilding all across the country.
Humanitarian development and peacebuilding organizations have
the commitment and absorptive capacity to scale up operations
if additional funding is made available.
Mercy Corps currently sees five priorities, each of which
must be met and addressed simultaneously. The first, as my
colleague said, is to restore security and reinforce civilian
protection. Mercy Corps concurs fully with the Catholic Relief
Services' request for full peacekeeping funding, and we would
also like to add two quick additions. The first, that Congress
consult regularly with the interagency to ensure maximum U.S.
support to MISCA in the interim, and also to see what creative
non-financial diplomatic tools we might be able to leverage
that haven't been pulled out of the toolbox just yet.
And then, secondly, just to underscore my colleague's
comments about not rushing toward elections, we strongly oppose
efforts to accelerate elections toward a February 2015 deadline
if those processes would exacerbate the risk of violence
against civilians or undermine the legitimate prospects for
peace.
Secondly, we ask for an increase in support for
peacebuilding and reconciliation initiatives. The deployment of
military and police alone will not ensure peace and security in
CAR, as you well know. As CAR's senior-most religious leaders
stated on their visit to Washington, DC, we must disarm the
hearts and minds of Central Africans.
Third, we ask for you to fulfill urgent humanitarian needs.
The degree of human suffering is staggering, as you well know,
yet the 2014 global humanitarian appeal is only 28 percent
funded. The first priority for Congress should be protecting
appropriations funding for the International Disaster
Assistance and Migration and Refugee Assistance Accounts.
Unfortunately, the administration's FY2015 budget request
to Congress cuts IDA by 28 percent and MRA by 33 percent. If
enacted, international responders will have a very difficult
time addressing the humanitarian needs.
Fourth, target interventions toward the protection and
empowerment of women and girls. From January to March of this
year, over 90 percent of the rape cases we have seen in our
centers have been gang rapes committed by armed actors. This is
a very significant increase in rape cases that Mercy Corps has
seen in the Central African Republic. In addition, women have
been marginalized across all aspects of the response and
risking marginalized and reconciliation and recovery processes
as well.
Fifth, secure commitments now for transition. To date, the
U.S. has not committed funds or communicated its strategic
intentions in CAR beyond December 2014. This sends mixed
signals to Central Africans, partners, and the international
community about U.S. intentions to engage in the medium to long
term. Efforts to reopen the U.S. Embassy in Bangui should be
prioritized and expedited, and Congress could also be very
helpful in accelerating the engagement of international
financial institutions in CAR.
Twenty years after the Rwandan genocide and subsequent
crisis in GRC, as you so eloquently stated in your opening
remarks, Mr. Chairman, the U.S. has stated that the prevention
of mass atrocities constitutes a core moral and national
security priority. If the U.S. takes its commitments to
preventing mass atrocities seriously, now is the moment to
secure long-term support for CAR's recovery. Atrocities
prevention cannot be understood simply as mobilizing resources
in the face of imminent or already-ongoing atrocities against
civilians. It must be seen as investing in infrastructure to
mitigate them long before they start.
There is a long road ahead for recovery in CAR, but
recovery is possible and critical. Thank you again for the
opportunity to testify and for your continued support to the
people of the Central African Republic. I look forward to any
questions.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Rose follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
----------
Mr. Smith. Thank you very, very much for your testimony and
your work.
Mr. Agger.
STATEMENT OF MR. KASPER AGGER, FIELD RESEARCHER, ENOUGH PROJECT
Mr. Agger. Chairman Smith, Ranking Member Bass, members of
the subcommittee, thank you very much for this opportunity to
testify at this critical moment for the Central African
Republic.
I have been working as a field researcher with the Enough
Project and traveled to the country over the past 2 years, last
time in February, where I spent 3 weeks in the capital, Bangui,
looking at the drivers of the violence, the armed actors, and
the role of natural resources, and the prospects for
sustainable peace.
I interviewed Seleka fighters, anti-balaka fighters,
members of the transitional government, aid workers, and local
journalists. I also talked with the business sector, with
diamond traders, and people with firsthand knowledge of ivory
poaching in the country. I also went to the IDP camps and met
many of the displaced people.
The people I interviewed told me that what has been
described as religious conflict goes much deeper. The crisis
stems from a lack of leadership and exclusion of the people
from the decisionmaking process. What unites groups of fighters
is not so much religion but social, economic, and political
grievances from decades of marginalization. Many combatants are
motivated by the promises of economic gains rather than
religion.
Central African fighters and the allies are part of a
broader regional and international conflict system in which
outside countries and armed groups compete for state-controlled
natural resources and a general influence for resources in
Central Africa. I also learned from my interviews that diamonds
and elephant ivory are funding the Seleka, the notorious
Janjaweed militia from Sudan, including the anti-balaka, who
have all controlled diamond-rich areas and sell diamonds and
ivory to fund their activities.
Natural resources have also attracted the Governments of
Chad, Sudan, South Africa, China, and France. Interventions by
these governments have influenced security dynamics in the
country. The interest of Chad and Sudan especially has
contributed to the conflict. Mercenary fighters from each of
these countries were part of the Seleka movement and committed
horrible atrocities and looted.
The international community as a whole can take a few
critical steps, but we must act as quickly as possible. First,
deploy mediators to facilitate a bottom-up peace and
reconciliation process. We must support efforts to rebuild the
state institutions that have come to a virtual standstill.
We must investigate illicit diamond and ivory trading in
the region and cut off funding sources for the armed groups. We
must hold accountable those who commit atrocities and engage in
economic and criminal activity. Sustained U.S. diplomatic
engagement in the region that recognizes and addresses the
interest of the many actors who are involved, and that targets
the illicit sources of financing for violent actors, can
directly contribute to sustainable peace.
If the U.S. Government pursues low-cost diplomatic
initiatives now that boost international efforts, we could
prevent mass atrocities in the long run. Americans have
provided vital financial and diplomatic support for the
international peacemaking efforts and to MISCA. The appointment
of Ambassador Symington as U.S. Special Representative for CAR
will add momentum to these efforts.
As the U.S. charts the future of its critical engagement, I
urge Congress and the administration to not only target the
most acute, immediate needs in the country, but also to pursue
sustained engagement that addresses the root causes of the
conflict. Otherwise, I fear that we will not be able to bring a
sustainable peace to the country, which has experienced more
than five military coups since independence in 1960.
First, the U.S. should continue to support MISCA and
provide strong support for the U.N. peacekeeping mission.
Further, it should encourage the U.N. to promote an inclusive
bottom-up peace and reconciliation process in the country, the
decentralized nature of the conflict, the profusion of
different actors, and the lack of a central command for many of
the armed groups all mean that the nation requires a bottom-up
peace approach that addresses the armed groups through local
negotiations and local dialogues and reconciliation processes.
I would also like to reinforce that reconciliation should
be broad-based and not only between religious groups. Many
people take up arms in pursuit of economic interests, so we
need to include civil society, women leaders, youth groups, a
broad range of actors, in the reconciliation process.
Second, the U.S. should work with international partners to
cut off sources of financing to violent groups. The United
States and China, as current chair of the Kimberley Process,
should press for the Kimberley Process to lead review missions
to the United Arab Emirates, Belgium, and India to investigate
the smuggling of conflict diamonds from the country. These
efforts could identify individuals and companies against whom
the United States and the U.N. could issue target sanctions.
Third, the U.S. should adopt a regional approach to
diplomatic engagement. There is an urgent need to recognize the
motivating interest of those who are drawn to the natural
resources and exploit fragile state institutions in the search
for profits. The tri-border region between the Central African
Republic, Chad, and Sudan is a largely lawless area where rebel
groups operate relatively freely. The U.S. should work with
international partners to develop a common policy for the
region.
America must continue to lead with and alongside
international partners to address violence in the country. The
country's most precious resources, its people, deserve nothing
less.
Thank you very much. I will be happy to take any questions
you might have.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Agger follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
----------
Mr. Smith. Thank you so very much as well for your
testimony and recommendations.
Ambassador Sanders.
STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE ROBIN RENEE SANDERS, CHIEF EXECUTIVE
OFFICER, FEEEDS ADVOCACY INITIATIVE
Ambassador Sanders. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Ranking
Member, and members of the subcommittee. I want to thank you
for including me in this panel to talk about this very
difficult situation.
What my group does is work with diaspora groups around the
country, particularly on strategic recommendations, on conflict
issues and economic development. I have lived in and worked on
Central African regional issues, both when I was Director for
Africa at the National Security Council and also when I was
U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of the Congo.
The latter time was when former CAR President Bozize first
came to power. This was also a time of great conflict and human
suffering in CAR. The question the subcommittee is seeking
views on today, however, is whether or not the Central African
Republic is already in the throes of a pre-genocide atmosphere
or already embroiled in genocide. So my remarks will address
this and other elements that might be important to consider as
we work toward helping CAR as the international community and
try to stem the tide of violence that we see today.
I first want to say something that is very similar to what
my colleagues on the panel have said about the sheer
devastation of the humanitarian crisis. I have been up on the
border area many times between Central African Republic and
Republic of Congo in my years in the past, and, in fact, there
remains refugees there from earlier CAR conflicts.
For more than a decade, military instability and an
insecure environment have really been the focus of the CAR
environment. It has caused internal issues which have never
really been fully resolved. Social issues, political issues,
and ethnic issues keep the country environment unstable and the
people of the CAR at the mercy of the next wave of violence.
And this has allowed for the rise of what we see today.
Because of the continued instability and not being on the radar
screen of the international community for more than a decade
until the rise of the Seleka in December 2012, the events since
then have set in motion two things--revenge killing by the
anti-balaka Christian groups, which has now spawned into
sectarian violence.
In addition, over the last several days, we are hearing
unconfirmed reports of what I would call reverse revenge
killing, reportedly from armed Muslim militia of former Seleka
running raids from Muslim enclaves in the north into nearby
towns, such as attacking 2 days ago a hospital and killing
Christians as well as workers with Medecins Sans Frontieres
near the border with Chad.
These enclaves only exist because Muslims have been forced
to run from sectarian violence directed at them by the anti-
balaka groups as well as anti-balaka groups are also preventing
those Christians who want to live in peace with their Muslim
neighbors from doing so. Therefore, we have, as you know, the
following--revenge killing, which has now turned into sectarian
violence; a segregated country along Christian-Muslim lines;
large numbers of displaced persons afraid and hungry; attacks
on convoys evacuating people of either religious group; looming
potential for famine and further spread of disease as neither
planting or harvesting season has or will take place in the
violent environment; and, most importantly, impunity.
You have impunity from the former Seleka and others,
including Djotodia and also former President Bozize. These are
the elements that could possibly lead down the road to
something we have not seen before--a two-way genocide as each
group, Muslims and Christians, impose horrendous revenge and
reverse revenge killings upon each other.
If we allow this to happen, this would be a new challenge
for the country and the international community on top of the
already critical humanitarian crisis and thousands of
internally displaced persons already on the umbrella of the
airport as it is the only place that they feel remotely
comfortable.
Thus, what can be suggested as the way forward? I recognize
that the administration is working full-time on the
humanitarian crisis with internally displaced persons. And as
you already are aware, there are many donors that have not
stepped up to the plate to provide assistance, both
humanitarian-wise as well as with peacekeepers.
The 2,000 French troops and the 5,000 African Union troops
of MISCA, as well as the 150 EU troops who have just arrived,
should all be commended. But we also need to double down on
ensuring that their troops are not seen to support one
religious group over another.
Having served in the U.S. Government for many years, I also
recognize the timeline needed to get the full complement of the
12,000-person U.N. peacekeeping mission in by September 2014,
and that every effort is being made to advance this. But, Mr.
Chairman, Ranking Member Bass, the reality may get ahead of
their arrival, and we can see that now, particularly if what we
are hearing about reverse revenge killing is really taking
place with Muslim militia now coming back in and attacking
other villages.
Thus, as we balance this triplex of sectarian violence and
revenge killings, IDP humanitarian crisis, and looming famine,
we may need to jump now to concurrently working with the
transitional government and others to set up what we are
calling peace groups or peace commissions in rural areas, but
particularly in the enclaves and in Bangui, because without a
release valve for people to vent and articulate both their fear
and hatred, their steep desire to have revenge killings for
atrocities done to them or their families, and to address the
overall environment of crimes against humanity, the impunity
issue, we are likely at the beginning of seeing the current de
facto segregation of CAR moving into something worse, such as a
two-way genocide, the likes of what we have not seen before.
The potential is there, Mr. Chairman. We can't move to
helping people rebuild their lives, restart economic activity,
without addressing these issues. In general, peace or
reconciliation commissions, such as we have seen in Sierra
Leone, South Africa, and even the communal ones that we have
seen in Rwanda, generally have begun after peace or at least
fragile stability has been restored.
But what we are suggesting here is that these things happen
concurrently now, because you have to have a way for a release
valve to happen concurrently else you are not going to be able
to get to the level of stability that they are trying to seek.
I am not sure we can wait for that phase. As I said, the
triplex of issues we see today may prohibit reaching an end to
violence and atrocities unless some release valve is actually
established. Looking at traditional methods like in Rwanda,
what are the traditional methods in CAR to address conflict? I
think we need to bring those to the fore, and a lot of the
diaspora groups that are here today really have that
information for you and have those good ideas.
And I wanted to add something else, and I know this is not
directly related to the question of the subcommittee, but I
think it is very much an attendant issue. And I would be remiss
if I didn't mention this issue after having served as the U.S.
Ambassador also in Nigeria, with the resurgence of Boko Haram
that has happened there.
Events like we see in CAR, although we might not think that
it could get worse, it can. They can spiral even more out of
control so quickly and so fast. I think we need to be mindful
that there is the potential for untoward groups to come into
CAR and take advantage of the unstable environment, and the
segregated environment in particular of both Muslims and
Christians, not only fueling more hatred and violence but also
bringing with them more violent methods, such as terrorist
tactics that we haven't yet seen there that could potentially
come in.
I am specifically thinking about fundamentalist groups who
could come in to provide al-Qaeda-inspired tactics, training in
these enclaves because you have segregated societies there.
I think it is important that we pay attention to this, and
I want to ensure that my advocacy group, working with other
diaspora groups, are really worried about this issue and wanted
to bring it to your attention today.
I want to thank the subcommittee again for allowing me to
share these views, and I am happy to address your questions. I
would also like to submit my revised remarks, with your
permission, to the committee.
[The prepared statement of Ambassador Sanders follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
----------
Mr. Smith. Without objection, Ambassador Sanders, yours and
all of the other full statements will be made a part of the
record. Thank you for your testimony.
Ms. Bass has another appointment pressing, so I yield to
Ms. Bass.
Ms. Bass. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate your
flexibility. And I want to thank all of the panelists, and I
appreciate your contributions.
I did want to ask before I have to leave, Ambassador
Sanders, if you could just expand a little more. For example,
you were talking about the reconciliation process beginning
now. And you mentioned, you know, several different countries.
You also mentioned looking at the traditional processes that
happen.
So are you suggesting now that reach-out begin to the
various countries--South Africa, Rwanda, Sierra Leone--and that
teams are put together to come into the country now? And do you
know if the AU or anybody else is attempting to do that?
Ambassador Sanders. As far as I know right now,
Congresswoman Bass, no one is attempting to do that. I know
these are ideas that have germinated within the diaspora
community. I did hear our colleague from CRS mention the
workshops. But what we are talking about is something a little
bit different than that because really going into the enclaves
and having discussions now in these segregated communities.
And I think it is important that we look at traditional
ways of arbitration similar to what Rwanda did. So we need to
find out what those traditional ways of arbitrations have been
in the CAR context with their respective ethnic groups, because
sometimes those ways of arbitration are quite different from
ethnic group to ethnic group.
And we need to start working with those groups in-country
as well as look at outside examples and bring those in. I heard
Rwanda mentioned earlier, but there are other examples out
there too. And I think Sierra Leone I think is a really good
example that is even similar to the situation in CAR, given the
extent of the atrocities both in Rwanda and in Sierra Leone. I
think those are two good examples.
Ms. Bass. Well, I know that you are going to be leaving
soon. But when you come back, I would like to continue
conversations about this and maybe look as to how we make that
concrete. So thank everyone very much for your testimony.
Ambassador Sanders. Thank you, Congresswoman Bass.
Mr. Smith. Thank you, Ms. Bass.
Just a few questions. And, again, I thank you for your
patience with all of the interruptions with voting.
You know, I am concerned that there seems to be--maybe we
have it now, but there has been a lack of urgency. I mean, last
July many of us were raising these issues in earnest. I know
that Bishop Nongo, when he came and testified, he was fresh
from coming from the United Nations at which he tried, in
talking to permanent representatives there, especially Security
Council members, he had a sense of urgency that not only were
the killing fields horrific then, that they could quickly
become, you know, another Rwanda. And he made that point very
clear, as he testified here.
And yet the U.N. punted for weeks, now months, and now they
seem to be standing up a force. I did ask Ambassador Jackson
earlier about, you know, when the deployment actually occurs
and we are still months away from that even though there is
some augmentation going on of certain troops.
And then we are still not sure, because I did ask him and I
would appreciate any thoughts you have on this, about the
configuration of the force, especially if it is right-sized and
not being driven by how much money potentially will be in the
kitty to fund it, but what is necessary to do the job and to do
it as effectively as possible.
I mean, were the Pentagon and others involved in this?
Because it would seem to me that, you know, we do have planners
who know what it takes. And very often--and we have seen this
over and over again all over the world, despite the--you know,
the goodwill of the blue helmets, but if they don't have the
right mandate, and if they don't have enough people, it doesn't
happen.
And I mentioned earlier about Srebrenica, you know, the
safe haven cities and a force that had horrible, and I mean
horrible, rules of engagement. Just parenthetically, I had the
translator who met with the Dutch peacekeepers in Mladic
testify here soon after all of the Muslim men were slaughtered
in Srebrenica, and he said he couldn't believe it. The
peacekeepers were handing over the men to slaughter, and we
have seen that replicated, in whole or in part, all over the
world.
So my point would be, are we moving with the urgency, with
sufficient resources? You, Ms. Rose, point out in your
testimony, your first two points--and all of you have said
this--the importance of a robust force security and all the
rest, but then you even talk about the humanitarian part. The
2014 global humanitarian appeal is only 28 percent funded,
three-quarters not funded.
You point out that the first priority for Congress, and I
thank you for underscoring that to Members of Congress, to be
protecting appropriations funding for the international
disaster assistance and migration and refugee assistance
accounts to ensure humanitarian needs can be met throughout
2014 and into 2015.
Then, you point out ominously and disappointingly that the
administration's 2015 budget request to Congress cuts the
international disaster assistance funds for displaced persons
by 28 percent from 2014 levels, and the MRA account by 33
percent. You also, as has been said throughout this hearing,
other donors, other countries, need to be stepping up to the
plate as well and meeting their obligations.
And, Madam Ambassador, you might want to speak to this,
too, because you were on the inside for so long. How do we get
the administration itself, and then, by extension, Congress, to
realize that this crisis is being underfunded? And we do take
our cues from the administration. I have been in Congress 34
years. When an administration lays out a number that they think
is the requisite amount for disaster assistance, for example,
it does become a very important number that is taken seriously.
It is not something we just throw over the side, and to up it
takes a lot of data and information that you in the NGO
community especially, and as experts, can help us.
So I think your admonishment to us to meet this unmet need,
particularly in the budget that has been proffered by the
administration, is a very serious shortfall on the part of the
administration. So you might want to speak to that as well.
And, finally, I just want to ask--I do have a lot of
questions, but if you would touch on those. The work of
Catherine Samba-Panza, you know, the sense from the testimony
is that there was a heightened sense of expectation and
hopefulness that may have been diminished over the last several
weeks. Is that true? Does she have the kind of backstopping
that she needs by the international community as head of state?
And, finally, when it comes to children's issues, what are
the kids doing? I mean, I appreciate, Mr. Campbell, you talked
about that one individual who decided not to go the route of
the gun simply because you in your workshops had inspired him
to see another route to take. But, you know, there are a lot of
young youth, young people I should say, and especially the most
vulnerable, the under-five part of the population and
vulnerable women who are not getting the kind of help that they
need, particularly in this crisis situation, maternal
mortality, child mortality--you mentioned, Ambassador, about,
you know, famine and further spread of disease--you know, the
stalking of a whole slew of diseases that could break out, if
they haven't already, if you could speak to that as well
because these are all issues that it helps us to know with as
many specifics as possible, so that we can respond accordingly,
particularly with the resources.
Madam Ambassador, I understand you will have to leave
shortly, so if you wouldn't mind going first.
And I would ask my friend and colleague, Mr. Meadows, if he
might have a question for the Ambassador as well, so that he
can get his question in to you before you have to make your
departure.
Ambassador Sanders. Okay. Let me take the right-sizing
issue first, because I think that's a really extremely
important one. And we should have learned lessons I think from
Rwanda, which should be applied here. I think that you are
absolutely right that U.S. planners should be involved in this,
and they can be working with the U.N. Department of
Peacekeeping Operations to really make sure we have got it
right this time in terms of the--not only the force size but
the elements of the force, so that you are really not only
addressing the peacekeeping mechanism but maybe in addition to
the policing mechanism as well, because you have got to have
the space for security, but you also have to have the policing,
so that you can maintain or keep the security that you have
gained, because every time the peacekeepers move to a different
location, then you have a fallback of that previously protected
area that is no longer protected.
So I think we should have learned lessons from Rwanda in
terms of better managing the numbers and making sure we have
the right-sizing done. And I think more dialogue with our
planners and the Department of Peacekeeping Operations at the
U.N., I think really needs to be done, so we can get those
numbers right this time, and get the mix right, because we may
need more police than we need peacekeepers or the various
combinations. But definitely you need both types of forces on
the ground.
In terms of the interim President, first of all, let me
take my hat off to her because she is definitely trying to
manage a very, very difficult situation, and I think she needs
all of the support the international community can provide to
her. But I would add that some of the examples that have been
provided by my colleagues here, including the idea of possibly
having these peace groups or peace commissions begin, I think
we really need to start working with her and the transitional
government in order to make that happen, because they have to
have buy-in, too.
We can't--we are not able to do these things without the
buy-in of the transitional government as well. So we have to
get her buy-in on some of these ideas that have been presented
to the subcommittee, so that we are working in lockstep and not
in counter-step with each other.
In terms of the famine and disease, you heard earlier about
World Food Programme's stats on what they have in terms of what
they are able to provide to the IDPs. But you are also missing
the other point in terms of normally you have a planting and a
harvest season. That hasn't taken place because of the
violence. So the normal foodstocks that are there are also
diminished. So in addition to having a reduced amount of relief
food, you also have a reduced amount of the normal stocks that
are in CAR.
So I am worried about the potential for famine for both
reasons, and I think that this is something that our
administration needs to look at down the line maybe 3 or 4
months, because we could be having this same conversation in
August and September, quite differently as we are facing famine
on top of an already bad situation.
Mr. Smith. The cut that has been proposed, would that be
devastating, that Ms. Rose mentioned in her testimony, the cut
to the international disaster relief account? It is a huge cut.
Ambassador Sanders. She is absolutely right. That is going
to impact everybody's ability to do their job, particularly on
the humanitarian side. So we can't diminish any of these
things. I mentioned earlier that we had a triplex of issues
that we haven't had before, and all of these are converging and
that is a big one. And it would also help address the famine--
the potential famine issue down the line as well.
Ms. Rose. Thank you, Chairman. I will just go down the
line, if that's okay, with some of the questions.
Mr. Smith. Please.
Ms. Rose. So in the MINUSCA mandate, I think from Mercy
Corps' perspective we don't have a position on the numbers, but
we are happy with the mandate. We think it has a very strong,
well thought out mandate that is intentionally chronologically
strategic about what it is supposed to achieve. So it starts
with a clear intent to protect civilians and then transitions
into the state-building and institution-building down the line,
which we think is smart and isn't always laid out.
We are also really happy with language that requires
MINUSCA to work with humanitarian and human rights partners in
devising a comprehensive protection strategy from the get-go as
it scales up, which is kind of new and innovative language, and
we think really critical about--that means the U.N. is going to
have to allocate resources to do an entire risk assessment of
protection concerns throughout the country, and then plan a
strategic response, which is really good.
I think what is kind of below that, which is more
important, is that, you know, we have to support MISCA, which
we have all stated and you well know. But it kind of answers
the first question about MINUSCA, because the fluidity of the
crisis in CAR is so constant. It changes every day. There are
new threats emerging in different parts of the country, and so
the focus should really be on reinforcing MISCA, which we have
some recommendations for that I think I said in my testimony.
But I think that's the priority.
Third, on the funding question and how disastrous it would
be, I think it would be really great for, you know, the
administration to feel some pressure from Congress and for
Congress to request a conversation or a briefing from the
administration their rationale behind those cuts and how they
think we are going to respond not just in CAR but in South
Sudan and Syria where these displacement and protracted
situations are not getting better. I think that would be a good
initiative.
But I also want to underscore that the fact that we have to
keep fighting for crisis response underscores the fact that we
aren't investing enough in prevention. These crises are
expensive. They get more and more expensive the longer that
they unravel, yet in our foreign assistance budget we have very
few mechanisms available for proactive prevention.
The Complex Crisis Fund is one--the USAID Complex Crisis
Fund is one of the newest tools that was developed in 2010. It
is funding Catholic Relief Services, Search for Common Ground,
and Mercy Corps--they were able to respond very quickly. They
turned around a proposal in, you know, a matter of weeks. That
is a great tool that we really think should be scaled up to at
least $100 million, and beyond just the CCF and rapid response
structures, but really finding--looking at our foreign
assistance priorities and platforms and how we can carve out
more proactive prevention.
On your question of Samba-Panza and the transitional
government, from my perceptions on the ground and from our
staff's perceptions, there still is faith and optimism in the
transitional government, but it is waning as we mentioned. And
what we really prioritize is that the transitional government
has a support package to pay civil salaries and to restore
basic state functions, so that they can begin to provide
services.
We are happy with The World Bank's announcement earlier
this week, which will be an initial salary payment, but it is
very small. We also think the IMF really needs to get involved,
and we recently heard that they plan to send their assessment
team in July, which we think is not fast enough. And if
Congress could help accelerate that process for their scale-up
grant, it would be really great.
Fifth, on the question of vulnerable populations and the
displacement crisis, there have been a lot of comparisons of
CAR to Rwanda. But what I was trying to sort of portray in my
testimony, and what we are really seeing is that it is actually
we think unfolding into something more like a DRC, where there
is a massive protracted displacement crisis. And if the
international community is distracted and only responds to the
immediate needs without thinking of the underlying root causes
that caused the conflict in the first place, that we are going
to end up having to spend billions of dollars for 20 years and
still have a crisis.
And that is why we are encouraging long-term investments in
state-building and institution-building and political
reconciliation, so that we don't see CAR fall into a similar
crisis down the line.
And just quickly on reconciliation, which Ms. Bass asked
about, there are some local initiatives going on already on
reconciliation. But a lot of the local structures have been
completely destroyed, so there is really a need to invest and
scale those up, but there are local capacities that can begin.
There is also high-level engagement on political
reconciliation, so the U.N. Mediation Support Unit has been
working on a reconciliation plan. MINUSCA Political Affairs,
their primary task over the next 3 months is to find all the
different influencers and the power players and to start to
rebuild that strategy and so I think the big key for Congress
is to stay engaged with that process and see where there are
gaps and where there is need for support, and to ensure that
that reconciliation process is coordinated, so that the local
efforts and the high-level efforts are coordinated and go in
parallel to make sure that you don't loose the connection
between the grassroots and the elites in society, which for so
long hasn't been there and that is a big undercurrent of the
crisis.
Mr. Agger. Yes. Thank you so much once again. I would say
that the important point I think here, it is not just a matter
of how many troops we get. And for me personally, I am not a
military planner, so I can't talk much about that. But I think
what all of us have said here on the panel is that the
political process has stalled, and the transitional government,
there is still hope, yes, but her ability to deliver is very
limited, because she has no army, she has no police. There are
no judges. She does not have a state budget at the moment.
So her ability to respond to international and to local
expectations is extremely limited. So I think that is where the
international community needs to come in and provide her some
tools to help her. You can provide her with finance. You can
provide her with advisors and support to bring out the
political mandate.
And then I think, secondly, the reconciliation process, as
everybody has talked about, needs to start now from the bottom
up at the grassroots level, because you have all of these
different armed groups that are operating without any central
command in different parts of the country. So you can't just
call the usual suspects of the key leaders of Seleka and anti-
balaka who sit in the capital, Bangui, and try to have a
roundtable and solve it that way.
You need to create a team of negotiators or advisors that
can actually travel around the country and start to distill
what the local issues are and start to broker some local
understandings, because I agree very much with my colleague
here that once the dialogue starts--and I think that is what
you also heard from the representatives who were here from the
religious community last year--that it is possible to reconcile
people, but it is not happening at the moment.
Thank you.
Mr. Campbell. I would agree that the new interim President
and the government is not given the support it needs to really
make an impact. They are losing credibility every minute of the
day. In fact, Bishop Nestor, when he was in Bangui, I went to
the mass where the President had attended as well, and he was
very clear.
The police and the army of the country itself has no arms.
They are not part of this process, and he had made the point
that that had been the case in Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, and
other places as well. So the population that is supposed to be
part of rebuilding the government and the society are not even
involved in the process.
With regard to support, I think I see it in three different
ways, and it is support, which has been slow to the
humanitarian situation, the security, and, again, as I said,
the interim government. They cannot move forward, and they lose
that credibility with the population and undermine the very
governance that got us into this problem over the past several
decades.
Regarding the workshops and reconciliation, in fact, we do
work in those enclaves, and that needs to be expanded and, I
agree with my colleagues, coordinated. But it has to involve
the people of the country itself and cascade down throughout
the communities. It is not something that can be helicoptered
in, but our work is very much with those faith leaders, but
also community leaders, parliamentarians, they have to take
hold of the process of reconciliation and the social fabric.
Thank you.
Mr. Smith. Thank you.
Mr. Meadows.
Mr. Meadows. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and for continuing to
bring this issue to the center and forefront of not only our
minds but to many of our colleagues. Sadly, for many of the
people we represent, if you were to ask them to find the CAR on
a map, they could not do it. And yet the atrocities that are
happening daily are things that they would find appalling.
And so your testimony here today is critical because it
sheds some light on it. My concern is is at times we take
this--and many of you live and breathe this every single day,
so you know the subtleties of it, you know what works, what
doesn't work. And yet when you come to testify, you paint a
very broad-brush picture of what you would like to see the CAR
look like maybe 10, 20 years from now, knowing full well that
it only will happen in very small incremental stages. But we
have, from what I am hearing, we have a critical timeline that
must be addressed both financially and with other resources
immediately. Is that correct? So all of you are nodding yes.
So your testimony--so let me go further. I assumed that
that would be a yes from all four of you. So let me go further,
because I am putting this in several different buckets. One is
humanitarian. One is peacekeeping. But the other is something
that the Ambassador alluded to, and I guess, Mr. Campbell, you
alluded to as well, is the policing side of that to even
provide for a peaceful situation so that reconciliation, so
that economic growth, a number of those things can take place.
How do we best assist, recognizing the sovereign nation,
you know, and the sovereignty of a foreign government, to come
in where it is not the United States trying to put their
particular stamp on a country and a culture that we really
don't want to Americanize. How do we get, one, that message
across? And, two, how do we very quickly on the policing side
of it assist? Because if you look to train police and military,
that is a very long process. It does not happen in a month or
two.
So it almost requires intervention. What is the best
solution to that? So that the peacekeeping can indeed do the
peacekeeping, Madam Ambassador, as you mentioned, recognizing
we have limited resources. But how do we best set the priority
for what we do first to start this process? And, Madam
Ambassador, I know you need to leave, so I will start with you.
Ambassador Sanders. Thank you so much. I think your points
are extremely important. One of the things that I think that
can be done on the U.N. side, because policing can be done with
a U.N. mandate as well, if they include it in the mandate, and
so your timeline about training, yes, that is down the line for
people of CAR, but to bring in police as part of the U.N.
mandate would not be unheard of. And you can do that to
solidify whatever gains you do make in terms of security. So
that is one way to at least start, by including bringing in
police units as part of the U.N. peacekeeping effort.
So you can build on the police that are there to at least
establish or begin to establish security units that can go and
travel and try to maintain the areas that have already been
secured, or that need to be resecured and maintain those, and
look at training the CAR police way down the line.
Mr. Meadows. So is that something that the current
government would welcome, or, I mean, what--politically, what
would we have there?
Ambassador Sanders. I think that it is something that,
given the fact that the transitional government needs a lot of
support, I think it is something that they would welcome,
because they understand the fact that without that kind of
constant security that they are never going to be able to reach
their goal or the goal of the international community to
provide stability for CAR.
So I do think it is something that they would consider
positively, and I think it is something that we need to think
about and actually encourage the U.N. to take a look at,
including inviting police units as part of the U.N. force to be
in CAR.
One of the areas that you didn't mention that I really
think we haven't spent enough time on is the impunity issue.
And I say that because part of that reconciliation is for
people to be able to see that the international community has
taken the question of impunity very, very seriously, and that
is with former Seleka leaders, that is with former President
Bozize and others. And we haven't really addressed that as the
international community as of yet, and I----
Mr. Meadows. So with a marginal judicial system within the
CAR, I mean, so how do you do that? I mean, how functionally do
you have that impunity where it gets dealt with?
Ambassador Sanders. Well, we do have the International
Criminal Court. That is one of the reasons that the
International Criminal Court is there when an internal system
cannot deal with crimes against humanity itself. And so that is
a mechanism, that is an area where we can at least begin that
dialogue and have the ICC look at this question of impunity of
some of the leaders that are out there, some of those that have
caused the current violence, and some of them that are
responsible for the underlying causes that are in CAR today.
So I think it is something we can do. The International
Criminal Court is there, and that is part of one of its
mandates is to look at issues where the country itself cannot
manage its own judicial system in a way that you can address
the question of impunity.
Mr. Meadows. So can you comment, if you would for me, on
the Atrocities Prevention Board, how that has either played in,
or doesn't play in, or what role does it play in the CAR at
this point. Can anybody comment on that?
Ambassador Sanders. There may be others that are best
placed, but we heard earlier today that as far as the
administration understood maybe there was one meeting, but
there may be others on the panel that might be better placed to
answer that than I am.
Mr. Meadows. Ms. Rose, I see they are all looking at you.
[Laughter.]
Ms. Rose. I am excited for this question. So from our
perspective, so as an NGO community that has collectively
worked on mass atrocities prevention advocacy, in our opinion,
we do think that the Atrocities Prevention Board played a very
important role.
For the comments that the State Department didn't know
about the CAR crisis until November and December, I thought
that was a problematic response and that there is some
potential opportunity for Congress to push back and ask how
that is possibly the case, given that the----
Mr. Meadows. Potential opportunity, right?
Ms. Rose [continuing]. That I would love for you to use.
Mr. Meadows. I did of did ask, but I will ask----
Ms. Rose. Right. But follow up and say, you know, if the
coup happened in March, and we now have interagency structures
to raise red flags up the ladder to the highest level, how is
it possible that the State Department wasn't looking at this
intentionally in November and December? So I think that is a
follow-up opportunity.
But the Atrocities Prevention Board, from our perspective,
did play an important role. They were convening behind-the-
scenes meetings. The Conflict Stabilization Office, out of the
State Department, was the key locus of sharing information
across the interagency. In August, September, October, and
November, they did convene meetings. They had open sessions
with the NGO partners, so we could express what we were seeing.
So that would not have happened with out the Atrocities
Prevention Board and Presidential Study Directive 10.
That said, clearly, we were too late. So our question that,
again, we would love for Congress to ask is, what happened in
March? And where does atrocities prevention sit on parallel
with other national intelligence priorities?
Mr. Meadows. Right.
Ms. Rose. If CAR was, you know, geopolitically
strategically irrelevant until mass atrocities were occurring,
how are we better elevating that prioritization framework? And
how can we get ahead of--how can we pay better attention to----
Mr. Meadows. So how do we put a better emphasis ahead of
the curve instead of after the curve, is that correct?
Ms. Rose. Yes.
Mr. Meadows. Okay.
Ms. Rose. In 2013, out of Presidential Study Directive 10,
they were required to create a National Intelligence Estimate
on mass atrocity threats everywhere in the world. It is not
public obviously, but that, we understand, has been created.
And so, you know, figuring out where CAR was on that list, how
it moved, I think CAR would be a really great case study for
Congress and the interagency to explore where the breakdowns
are in that system.
But we do think that there has been progress, and that
because of the APB's existence, because of Presidential Study
Directive 10, because of the core U.S. commitment to preventing
mass atrocities, the response was faster than it ever would
have been.
And quickly I would just add where we think there needs to
be more progress moving forward, one would be unlocking the
information-sharing problem and these blockages to investing
and more flexible and long-term funding across the board,
recognizing that you can't solve CAR's crises and challenges in
12 months. We need multi-year assistance programs that let
practitioners and implementers really deal with the
complexities of these problems. And then, third would be to
codify our commitments in law to mass atrocities prevention.
So under PSD-10, you know, that might not live beyond the
Obama administration unless Congress codifies it into law, and
that would be great.
Mr. Meadows. All right. So let me kind of bring it down. If
we were to only do two things in the next 90 days, what would
it be? Two things. Now, I know that, you know, we need
humanitarian and we need policing and all of that. But if we
could only do two things and say that this is the most critical
time because we are underfunded, we are understaffed, we are,
you know, what would it be--I was at a dinner, and I can tell
you that whether it is NGOs, the State Department, the U.N., a
number of them, the focus for them was two places, South Sudan
and the CAR.
And that was the focus, and they were saying we have got to
act, and we have got to act immediately. But for every day that
we don't act, there are lives that are being lost. And so how
do we do this--if we were to say the next 90 days you could do
anything that you wanted to do, what would it do in terms of,
how would you prioritize our involvement there? Mr. Campbell,
we will start with you.
Mr. Campbell. Security would be first, because we need that
operating environment.
Mr. Meadows. And by ``security,'' do you mean policing or
peacekeeping or----
Mr. Campbell. If I can get away with it, I will take both.
Mr. Meadows. But if you had just one, what would it be?
Mr. Campbell. The security, meaning not the police but--
because the situation is so volatile that until that is
stabilized, nothing else can move.
Mr. Meadows. Okay.
Mr. Campbell. And then, secondly, the humanitarian
response, because people are in such need, particularly food
security over and above the--before you get to the immediate
response. That has to come, but this is--because of how this
has evolved, this is a long-term disaster, particularly with
food security. As I said earlier, this is 2 years of
consecutive problems with planting, and so forth. Even in the
lean periods before the crisis, it was very difficult.
Mr. Meadows. Sure. Okay.
Ms. Rose?
Ms. Rose. I would concur that the first initiative would be
to reinforce MISCA. They are specifically trying to find
replacement 850 peacekeepers for the Chadian force that left,
but also just explore across the interagency if there are ways
for the United States to increase assistance to MISCA in the
immediate term.
And then, number two would be to pass a bill authorizing
multi-year assistance funding to CAR that transcends the
regular appropriations calendar, so that not just financial
assistance but it would be a 4- or 5-year strategic response
bill that includes humanitarian development, diplomatic and
political commitments to seeing CAR through its transition.
Mr. Meadows. All right. What I would like is, if you
would--and not for open testimony, but if you would submit what
that budget would look like, what the parameters. I don't need
a Cadillac or a Rolls Royce version. I won't mention another
vehicle, but I need something less than that. [Laughter.]
How about that? Okay?
Ms. Rose. Yes, sir.
Mr. Meadows. Mr. Agger?
Mr. Agger. Yes. Thank you. I would agree that those are
critical issues, but I would like to propose that we look--
think a little bit outside the box and not just think about
more troops and more police. I firmly believe that with local
dialogues, a reconciliation approach, we will be able to
contain the violence. It is another method to stop the violence
that has not been tried in the country. And I firmly believe
that it will make a huge difference on the ground once people
start to talk together.
Mr. Meadows. Okay. What would be their motivation to talk?
Mr. Agger. Their motivation is that nobody really has a
good situation. People are displaced. People are being attacked
daily. So my experience from talking to local people, people
are seeking leadership and seeking guidance. They are seeking
someone who will try to put order in place. And I believe that
it is much more cost effective to start local dialogues than to
keep pushing for additional peacekeeping forces. And,
realistically speaking, I just don't see where the finances and
the troops going are to come from at this moment.
Mr. Meadows. All right. Let me follow up, and then we will
let you finish, because I know we are pressing on time limits
for everybody. You mentioned diamonds and a few of the other
things and outside influences. What component or what
percentage of this is a terrorist, organized crime intervention
within that in terms of diamonds and other natural resources?
Whether it be Hezbollah or any of the others, what kind of
presence would you see them having in the CAR?
Mr. Agger. It is not something we have seen to date. What
we have seen is that particularly the Seleka alliance and key
members used ivory poaching and control of diamond areas to
finance the rebel group. And most of those commodities went
through Sudan, because of the strong relations with the
Sudanese Government and members of the Janjaweed militia.
So I think that is where we would have to look, but I
recognize these are more long-term issues that will not have an
immediate effect. That is why I do not raise it as the most
crucial point.
Mr. Meadows. Okay. Madam Ambassador?
Ambassador Sanders. Thank you. I also have to echo police
and peace and security as number one, and I think you can't
split the two. You need both police and security. But I am
going to go back to the impunity issue, because I think it is
double-sided. One, because it shows if you bring leadership to
the justice system, then you have a better chance of
reconciliation happening on the ground.
If people see that the leaders of Seleka or former
President Bozize and others that have looted and put the
country in the situation that it is now are being brought to
justice, I think that it better helps the reconciliation
process on the ground. Again, I go back----
Mr. Meadows. So that becomes the motivation for them to
talk, as Mr. Agger was talking about, if they can't operate
without impunity.
Ambassador Sanders. Right. Exactly. If you have the
leadership that is operating with impunity, then, you know,
what is the motivation, you are right, even if we have more
peace groups. I think it encourages people when they see that
the leadership is also brought to justice that they have a
better chance of survival. And so I would encourage that we
begin a dialogue with the ICC to look possibly at the CAR and
bringing some of these leaders--leadership to justice.
And, lastly, and it was touched on briefly, is the
complicity issue by various elements throughout the region. I
do think that that has historically been a problem with CAR.
You do have, you know, various complicity support coming from
different countries around CAR and what their role is, whether
it is on the economic resource side or whether it is on the
political influence side.
Those two issues have existed for more than a decade in
terms of outside complicity, helping to destabilize CAR, and
that has not changed. So we need to bring our administration's
voice and the voice of Congress to some of those leaders around
the region, and address some of the complicity issues that we
all know are there.
Mr. Meadows. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate your patience. I
yield back.
Mr. Smith. Thank you very much.
Just before we conclude, just a couple of final questions,
especially as it relates to the ICC. Yesterday in this room the
full Foreign Affairs Committee passed my resolution that I
introduced way back in September and held a hearing on and did
an op-ed for the Washington Post on the need for a Syrian war
crimes tribunal that would be patterned after an ad hoc,
similar to what we had in Sierra Leone, Rwanda, and the former
Yugoslavia.
The ICC, as we all know, has had one conviction in over a
decade. It has 18 investigations, all Africans, nobody else for
some odd reason. And it seems to have all kinds of internal
constraints. A lot of it has to do with the way it was
configured, that makes it less flexible, doesn't go after as
many people, does not have a chilling effect.
And one of the things that David Crane said when he
testified, the chief prosecutor for Sierra Leone who sat right
where you all sit just a few months ago, was that--you know,
and he gave a number of scenarios of what that ad hoc tribunal
would look like, but you have got to have the ability to go
after both sides. You have to have the ability to go after more
than one actor or, you know, one or two, which is what the ICC
often does. And, again, only 18 indictments in over a dozen
years is not a record that gives a lot of hope that they will
have any consequence here.
So my question would be, should we be looking at an ad hoc
tribunal as it relates to the CAR? Similar to what we are
trying to get off the ground for Syria.
And, secondly, Ms. Rose, you mentioned and talked about
targeted interventions toward protecting women. Several years
ago, I don't know if you know this, but I actually am the
author of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, our landmark
law in combatting sex and labor trafficking.
Well, Greg Simpkins, our staff director on the
subcommittee, and I learned quite horrifyingly that
peacekeepers in DR Congo were raping little girls. Here are the
peacekeepers, with a duty to protect, with a mandate to
protect, had not been properly vetted, and were actually raping
little girls.
So we held three hearings on it. The U.N. did issue a zero
tolerance policy to its credit and did some good work, at least
on paper, and some tried to do it for real. But we went there
and visited not only the peacekeepers but also a place called
HEAL Africa, where so many women who had been gang raped by
armed individuals, as you pointed out in your testimony, were
getting a faith-based approach that were helping them get their
lives back, to deal with a trauma that is unthinkable and yet
they were getting some real help.
Juxtapose that, and to you, Ambassador Sanders, is it a
problem in Nigeria. Is it a problem of trafficking in CAR? We
haven't heard much about that. Have peacekeepers been complicit
in any way?
Just the other day we heard of all of those young women,
students, being trafficked by Boko Haram in Nigeria, and there
have been marches in Abuja about it, because people are
frustrated. And those young girls were sold into slavery,
abducted and now sold into slavery by Boko Haram.
And I am wondering if anything like that is happening in
CAR. Have there been any reports of trafficking? And are we all
making sure that those peacekeepers that are deployed and will
be deployed are properly vetted so that they don't become part
of the problem rather than part of the solution? My final
question.
Ambassador Sanders. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. On the
question of whether it should be an ICC or an ad hoc tribunal,
I think that the bigger, macro issue is the impunity. Whether
it is a tribunal or whether we do a one-off at the ICC, I think
it is the message that it sends and the vehicle that we choose
I think--I think both vehicles will be useful because you do
have the international aspect from the ICC.
You are right on the number of convictions, but at least it
brings an international zero-in on the impunity issue as well
as you could probably do a war crimes tribunal as well. But I
think it is the question of impunity. I haven't heard
specifically on trafficking, but let me just say that I would
not be surprised if that is also an underlying issue that is
going on. And if it hasn't started, there is always the
potential with instability like that for that to become another
unfortunate weapon of war of trafficking young men and women in
that circumstance.
So I think that is another thing you are absolutely right
to put on the table, and it is one thing that we have to watch.
In fact, I am headed to Nigeria right now to go to Kano and
Katsina, and so I don't know if I will be allowed to--my flight
leaves at 2:30. So if that is okay, thank you so much.
Mr. Agger. Yes. Thank you so much again. I will talk to the
issue of the peacekeepers. There have been several incidents
where Chadian peacekeepers have been involved in violent acts
against civilians. The event we talked about earlier today
where 30 civilians were killed, that was perpetrated by Chadian
soldiers. Some of them were even special forces soldiers that
were operating without any mandate inside the country, which is
just horrible and needs much more international scrutiny to
prevent these events in the future.
And I would also just take this opportunity to say that I
am publishing a report today about the drivers of the violence
in the country where you can learn a lot more about our ideas.
So thank you so much for this opportunity.
Mr. Smith. You know, I should note that we are deeply
appreciative on the subcommittee that C-SPAN has given the
American people the opportunity to hear about this tragedy from
experts who are living it. If you could just say how one might
get that report?
Mr. Agger. You will find it at theenoughproject.org.
Mr. Smith. Thank you.
Ms. Rose.
Ms. Rose. Thank you. On the question of justice, I would
have three points. So Mercy Corps, as an agency, I don't have
an opinion on whether the ICC is relevant to CAR, but I will
just go straight past that part of the question if that is
okay.
I think there is three points to think about. One would be
that we really need to be talking to Central Africans and ask
them what they see as justice. That was one of the questions I
asked the most when I saw--when I was on the ground. Is it
community-based? Is it transitional? Is it statutory? What will
make you feel safe?
And there are some funds to do those types of surveys but
not enough. We certainly need more, and we need to elevate
their voices in the debate. You know, Mercy Corps, Search for
Common Ground, CRS, we do have some structures where we are
engaging in those dialogues and putting together surveys, but
it does take time.
Secondly, just to highlight that I think in the immediate
term and preventing violence, community-based conciliation is
the best approach. So with our GBV centers, because the justice
system has ground to a halt, we have adjusted our strategy to
do community-based healing and reconciliation, and we found
that to have productive results.
And then just, third, I would say going back to the point
about the need for state-building and support to the state,
police are there, police are in Bouar, they are in Bossangoa,
they are in Bambari, there are still, you know, civil servants
that want to serve but they haven't been paid, so that is a
peace of the justice puzzle.
And then, on the issue of gender-based violence, I do not
have information on trafficking or complicity of peacekeepers,
but I am happy to ask my staff and get that to you. I think
regardless of whether it has happened or not, a big priority
for us is ensuring that the U.N. human rights due diligence
policy, which vets peacekeepers, is put into place immediately,
so that any new MISCA troops that come in and those that will
be transitioned up from MISCA to MINUSCA are going through that
vetting process now. So the sooner the better.
And then, third, on the point of holistic services and
whether we are adequately funding, Mercy Corps is funded from
the Department of State, Women, Peace and Security Act/Africa
Bureau for our GBV services, such as to highlight that
something that started in Congress is now a funding structure
and is working on the ground to really save lives.
But we aren't seeing in the international response specific
carved-out funding for GBV right now. I would like to highlight
that Secretary of State Kerry launched this past year, the Safe
from the Start initiative that is supposed to prioritize
emergency GBV response and emergency responses, so that grants
would be made available. But I think CAR would be a good
example to say that it is not coming to real life. We haven't
seen it yet.
So thank you very much.
Mr. Campbell. As far as the peacekeeping and the MISCA
forces, I mean, the configuration and makeup of--from countries
that border CAR is certainly a huge complication, in particular
Chadian forces in there at the time.
With regard to the ICC and the ad hoc tribunals, I have
nothing to share in that regard.
And then, finally, for the trafficking in CAR by the
peacekeepers, I can't speculate. I have not heard of any
reports myself. However, many of those countries that do border
CAR have these kinds of problems, but I have to say that there
have been no reports.
Thank you.
Mr. Smith. You have all been extraordinarily insightful.
Thank you for your commentary, your recommendations, as well as
your relaying the facts on the ground as best you see them.
I would like to thank my colleagues for this.
Again, I want to thank C-SPAN for giving America the
opportunity to hear what is going on. As Mr. Meadows said, some
Americans might have a little trouble finding where CAR is on
the map, but, frankly, they are our friends, our neighbors, our
fellow human beings, and we need to love them, embrace them,
and help them in every way possible. And so your
recommendations will be very helpful, and thank you to them and
for getting this message out to the rest of America.
The hearing is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 1:43 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
----------
Material Submitted for the Record
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
[all]