When a Muslim militia called the Seleka rose to power, the Christian militia, Anti-Balaka, harassed and killed Muslims. There are reports of “beheading and public-execution style killings. Villages are razed to the ground” (Smith). These killings are being committed by the militia groups the Seleka and the Anti-Balaka. The country Central …show more content…
Though an estimated “600,000 people have been internally displaced” (Karimi), the targeting of Muslims is what makes the conflict occurring in Central African Republic on the verge of genocide. In April of 2014, in the town of Boda, “an estimated 400,000 Muslims are asking to be evacuated” (We ‘failed’). The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum reports that after the Muslims were evacuated “looters quickly emptied the area of valuable materials and destroyed the mosque” (United States Memorial Museum). This cast an eerie resemblance to the night of November 9, 1938, otherwise known as Kristallnacht, where along with robbery, vandalism of Jewish property, synagogues were burned. Josie Ensor wrote in the article, Ban Ki-moon Warns of Rwandan Genocide Repeat in Central African Republic, that “Forces from neighboring Chad, a predominantly Muslim country, have helped to evacuate tens of thousands of Muslims fleeing the violence” (Enosr), their abandoned homes have been overtaken by refugees. In Bangui, Central African Republic’s capital, segregation occurs. In the article, Hell is an Understatement, Graeme Wood describes the segregation he saw in …show more content…
A survivor of this torture is a 47 year old man who goes by the name Laurent. The Seleka jailed him and two of his sons after he was accused of “trying to pass on fake money” (Smith). Their torture included “a pepper paste rubbed into the armpits and legs to create a burning sensation” (Smith). Laurent says “They put it in the ears and nose of one of my sons and forced him to inhale it, then hit him so hard he almost asphyxiated. He was bleeding from his ears and mouth.” (Smith). They were all released, but not without injury. The son who had to inhale the pepper paste spent two days in the hospital and has breathing difficulties as a result (Smith).
Some members of the Seleka are guilty for crimes against humanity, but not genocide. The Seleka do not kill Muslims or Christians merely because of religion. It is the members of the Anti-Balaka who are accused of the killings against Central African Republic Muslims. Papa Romeo said “International leaders should open their eyes to what is going on. Children are sleeping on the floor like goats. Is it because we have black skin?” (Smith). Like many others, Papa Romeo feels like the citizens of Central African Republic are “being ignored and abandoned to its