The Central African Republic has been entangled in new cycles of conflict since the upsurge of the Seleka insurgency in December 2012. Although a number of reasons account for the violent nature of the conflict and its protracted nature, sectarianism appeared to be the most glaring and leading driver of the conflict. The dominance of the Christian majority over the Muslims in every aspect of life, the questionable Central African citizenship of CAR Muslim population have led to overt discrimination against the minority Muslim population. This discrimination on religious lines adds to ethnic discrimination by various CAR leaders who offer preferential treatment to members of their ethnic groups through appointments to top government and military positions, to the detriment of the other tribes, breeding ethnic division. Applying the Protracted Social Conflict theory, this article attempts to investigate into how sectarianism contributed to the protraction of the CAR conflict from 2012–2020. The paper applies a qualitative method of analysis to investigate the sectarian roots of the 2012 conflict in the CAR. Data collection and analysis involved secondary sources in the form of books, scientific journal publications, reports and other relevant internet sources to answer the central question in the research.
This study aims at the debate of promoting peace and achieving justice in conflict-prone countries. The debate’s core is whether justice should be traded for peacemaking. Whether or not, justice or peace should take precedence over each other? Proponents of peace over justice contend that pursuing justice will lead to more conflict in an already precarious situation. Their counterparts hold that durable peace cannot be achieved without justice. Eight African states, including the ‘phantom’ state of Central African Republic (CAR), have applied amnesties in resolving their conflicts. The research focuses on how amnesties and criminal trials have attained the goals of sustainable peace, deterrence and political stability in CAR. This paper views justice as an essential aspect of achieving peace, not solely in retributive terms. Amnesty is analysed from the lens of international law, which obligates states to extradite or prosecute and punish perpetrators of international crimes. The research limits its analysis to accountability for international crimes and amnesty approach through negotiated post-conflict peace agreements in CAR. The study argues that justice options provide a better opportunity for a comprehensive and durable peace in CAR than amnesty, which promotes impunity and guarantees momentary peace and subsequent relapse to conflict.
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