Anti-balaka

Anti-balaka
Anti-Balaka militia in Gbaguili, a village located 340 km from Bangui
Active	2013–present
Leaders	Levy Yakete (MRPRC) Patrice Edouard Ngaissona (CPLC branch)[1] Richard Bejouane Sebastien Wenezoui Joachim Kokate Aaron Levesque
Area of operations	Central African Republic
Opponents	Séléka
Battles and wars	Central African Republic Conflict

The Anti-balaka is an alliance of militia groups based in the Central African Republic said to be composed primarily of Christians.^[2] However, some Church leaders have contested the exclusively Christian character of such groups^[3] and the Tony Blair Faith Foundation has also pointed out the presence of animists in Anti-balaka groups^[4] as has journalist Andrew Katz.^[5] They formed in the Central African Republic after the rise to power of Michel Djotodia in 2013.^[6] Amnesty International reported in 2015 that some members of anti-balaka groups have forcibly converted Muslims to Christianity.^[7] Anti-balaka groups have also kidnapped, burnt and burried alive women accused of being 'witches' in public ceremonies.^[8]

Terminology

Though "anti-balaka" is often translated as "antimachete", its origin is explained:

[It is] from the language of the young illiterates, who formed Seleka’s armed opposition, and who chased the Muslim ‘anti-balles à ti laka’ (anti ti laka bullets). The term ‘laka’ in the street language of the Central African Republic means an AK-47. The anti-balakas are therefore the bearers of grigris meant to stop Kalashnikov bullets.^[9]

History

It is argued that village militias formed in the 1990s to protect from highwaymen was a precursor to the Antibalaka.^[6] Unable to provide security throughout the remote areas of the country, President François Bozizé organized, to combat crime on the village level, self-protection groups in 2009 that took the name Antibalaka.^[4]

In March 2013, President Bozizé (a Christian) was overthrown in the Central African Republic Civil War by a mostly-Muslim rebel coalition known as Séléka. The leader of the Séléka, Michel Djotodia, then became the first Muslim president of the country.^[10] With the disbanding of the army by Djotodia, many army members joined the group, boosting their numbers and helping train them.^[4]

Djotodia announced the dissolution of the Séléka in September 2013,^[11] but most of the militias refused to disband.^[12] The Séléka and the anti-balaka engaged in a cycle of increasing violence.^[12][13]

As many Christians had more settled lifestyles and many Muslims were nomadic, claims to the land were yet another dimension of the tensions.^[14] In November 2013, the UN warned the country was at risk of spiraling into genocide,^[15] was "descending into complete chaos".^[16] France described the country as "...on the verge of genocide".^[17] On 2 December 2013, anti-balaka militiamen are suspected to have killed 12 people, including children, and wounded 30 others in an attack on the mostly-Muslim Fula in Boali, according to the government.^[18] This was amidst the Central African Republic conflict under the Djotodia administration.

Early 2014 marked a turning point; hardened by war and massacres, the anti-balaka committed multiple atrocities.^[5] In December 2013, UNICEF reported that in sectarian violence in Bangui, at least two children were beheaded and one of them was mutilated.^[19] In 2014, Amnesty International reported several massacres committed by anti-balaka against Muslim civilians, forcing thousands of Muslims to flee the country.^[20]

In 2014, corpse of missing French photojournalist, Camille Lepage was found by French soldiers in a truck used by Anti-Balaka members.^[21]

References