Technical Assistance and Capacity-Building in the Field of Human Rights in the Central African Republic

A/HRC/RES/57/35View PDF

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the Human Rights Council, under agenda item 10Technical assistance and capacity-building, published in 2024.

What other versions does this mandate have?

12 versions · 2014–2025

This is an older version — the most recent is A/HRC/RES/60/34

2025A/HRC/RES/60/34Technical assistance and capacity-building in the field of human rights in the Central African RepublicLatestCompare with previous version
2024A/HRC/RES/57/35Technical assistance and capacity-building in the field of human rights in the Central African RepublicCompare with previous version
2023A/HRC/RES/54/31Technical assistance and capacity-building in the field of human rights in the Central African RepublicCompare with previous version
2022A/HRC/RES/51/37Technical assistance and capacity-building in the field of human rights in the Central African RepublicCompare with previous version
2021A/HRC/RES/48/19Technical assistance and capacity-building in the field of human rights in the Central African RepublicCompare with previous version

Versions are identified automatically by matching titles within the same organ (~97% accuracy on a manual audit).

What subjects does this mandate have?

10 topics

Administration of Justice Central African Republic Children in Armed Conflicts Decentralization in Government Experts Human Rights Human Rights Violations Humanitarian Assistance Internal Security Technical Cooperation

What does this mandate say?

57 operative paragraphs

Strongly condemns all human rights violations and abuses and violations of international humanitarian law, including killings, acts of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, conflict-related, sexual and other gender-based violence, abductions, arbitrary arrests and deprivation of liberty, extortion and looting, the recruitment and use of children, the occupation of schools and attacks on schools, the injured and the sick, medical personnel, health facilities and medical vehicles, and the denial of humanitarian assistance, the illegal destruction of property and all violations committed against civilians, in particular populations in situations of vulnerability, including women, children and displaced persons, and stresses that those responsible for such violations and abuses must be held accountable for their actions and brought to justice;

Also strongly condemns the targeted attacks launched by armed groups against civilians, humanitarian workers, health workers, humanitarian supplies and United Nations personnel, and urges armed groups to observe an immediate ceasefire in accordance with their commitment under the Peace Agreement of 6 February 2019 and the joint road map of 16 September 2021, and to make their dissolution a short-term objective;

Reiterates its call for an immediate end to all human rights violations and abuses and violations of international humanitarian law committed by all parties, for strict respect for all human rights and all fundamental freedoms, for victims to have access to justice and for the re-establishment of the rule of law in the country;

Expresses deep concern at the humanitarian situation, aggravated by the conflict in the Sudan and the unrest in Chad, stresses that lack of funding and insecurity constitute obstacles to the complete, safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance, calls upon the international community to offer greater support for humanitarian assistance efforts by supporting the humanitarian response and stabilization plan, urges the competent agencies to carry out explosive device demining campaigns in the north-east of the country, and requests all parties to authorize and facilitate rapid, complete, safe and unhindered access for humanitarian aid and humanitarian workers to the entire national territory, including by strengthening security on the roads;

Calls upon the Government of the Central African Republic, with the support of the international community, to create the conditions for the safe, dignified and sustainable return of displaced persons and refugees who so wish, and encourages it to put in place measures for the protection and restitution of land and other property belonging to these vulnerable populations, and policies to support the start-up of agricultural and livestock projects or commercial activities, and to organize reconciliation campaigns between the inhabitants;

Calls upon the Government of the Central African Republic, political and religious leaders and civil society organizations to undertake coordinated public action to combat hate speech and incitement to violence on conventional media or social networks, including on ethnic and religious grounds, and to take measures so that those responsible for such acts are held accountable for them when violence, including on ethnic and religious grounds, takes place, and recalls that individuals or entities who commit or provide support for acts that undermine the peace, stability and security of the Central African Republic, who threaten or impede the political stabilization and reconciliation process, target civilians or attack peacekeepers, incite others to violence, including intercommunity violence, or to hatred, particularly on ethnic or religious grounds, or to sexual or gender-based violence, or who prepare, commit or order the commission of acts that are contrary to human rights and international humanitarian law, recruit children for use in armed conflict, or impede the delivery or distribution of or access to humanitarian assistance, may be sanctioned by the Security Council;

Welcomes the report of the Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in the Central African Republic and the recommendations contained therein;

Calls upon the authorities of the Central African Republic and the joint rapid response unit to prevent sexual violence against women and children, with the effective support of technical and financial partners, to fulfil expeditiously the commitments undertaken in 2019 with the signing of the joint communiqué between the United Nations and the Government of the Central African Republic with a view to combating sexual violence in conflict, and the relevant recommendations of the Independent Expert;

Urges all parties in the Central African Republic to protect all civilians, in particular women and children, against sexual and gender-based violence;

Calls upon the authorities of the Central African Republic to provide support to the National Observatory for Gender Parity and to strengthen the organization and operations of the National Commission on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the High Council for Communication, the High Authority for Good Governance, the National Committee on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, War Crimes, Crimes against Humanity and All Forms of Discrimination, and other State institutions working for the promotion, protection and fulfilment of human rights, the fight against corruption and the promotion of democracy and good governance;

Encourages the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic to resolutely implement, in support of the authorities of the Central African Republic and as provided for in its mandate, a proactive and effective approach to the protection of civilians, and to lend the necessary assistance to the work of the Special Criminal Court and the enforcement of its decisions, the reconstitution of the Truth, Justice, Reparation and Reconciliation Commission, and the continuation of the work of the criminal sessions, appeal courts and military tribunals, and centres of deprivation of liberty;

Encourages the United Nations, the countries contributing troops to the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic and international forces acting under the mandate of the Security Council to take the necessary measures to ensure full respect for the zero-tolerance policy of the United Nations on sexual exploitation and abuse and other forms of sexual violence, and calls upon troop-contributing countries and international forces acting under the mandate of the Security Council to take the necessary measures to prevent such acts and to prevent impunity among their personnel in order to ensure justice for victims, including through prompt and diligent investigation at national level and the prosecution of soldiers alleged to have committed abuses and violations, and to duly communicate the outcomes of proceedings to the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic within a reasonable period;

Deplores the fact that children continue to be used by armed groups as combatants, human shields, domestic workers and sex slaves, and the increasing number of child abductions, urges armed groups to release children from their ranks and to put an end to and prevent the recruitment and use of children and early and forced marriages, and in this regard calls upon them to honour the commitments assumed by several of them under the Peace Agreement of 6 February 2019;

Calls upon the authorities of the Central African Republic, with the support of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic and the United Nations country team, to revitalize the disarmament, demobilization, reintegration and repatriation process, and requests Member States and international organizations to continue and strengthen their financial support for the process and initiatives to promote peace, security and reconciliation within the population and the stabilization of the country, and for the Truth, Justice, Reparation and Reconciliation Commission, whose internal dysfunctions led to the suspension by Decree No. 24 0.139 of 24 May 2024 of the mandate of the commissioners and the launch in June 2024 of a new call for nominations, the selection process for which has been completed, with the decree confirming the appointment of the new commissioners still pending;

Urges the authorities of the Central African Republic, with the support of international partners, to intensify their efforts in the run-up to the elections to ensure that they are held in accordance with the principles of freedom, transparency and democracy, and are inclusive and balanced in terms of gender and youth participation, and encourages donors to provide logistical, financial and security support for the elections to ensure that they comply with the principles of human rights and democracy, in line with the State’s commitments under the relevant international and regional instruments;

Deplores the fact that grave violations against children, including murder, rape and maiming, have increased by 6 per cent compared to the previous period, with the prefectures of Haut-Mbomou, Lim-Pendé and Ouham-Fafa most affected, and that the reported grave violations against children were committed mostly by armed groups;

Notes with satisfaction the organization on 4 and 5 June 2024 by the Government, with the support of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic and the United Nations Children’s Fund, of a workshop to validate the protocol for the transfer and protection of children associated with armed groups, which should make it possible for these children to be handed over directly to the child protection services of the country and its partners;

Encourages the Government of the Central African Republic to promptly adopt a national child protection plan and to consider ratifying the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure;

Welcomes the decree of the President of the Republic of 6 May 2024 establishing a steering committee headed by the Ministry of Justice to oversee the implementation of the national human rights policy adopted in 2023;

Encourages the Government of the Central African Republic to implement, with the support of technical and financial partners, a national strategy for technical and agricultural training and vocational training as a social lever for the transitional process, for the benefit of youth, including under the national development plan for the period 2024–2028;

Urges all parties to protect and to regard as victims those children who have been released or otherwise separated from the armed forces and armed groups, and emphasizes the need to protect, release and reintegrate in a sustainable manner all children associated with the armed forces and armed groups and to implement rehabilitation and reintegration programmes that take into account the specific needs of girls, in particular those who have been victims of violence;

Remains deeply concerned by the continuing conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence throughout the country, which is particularly prevalent in the prefectures of Mbomou and Ouham-Pendé, and which is reported to have been perpetrated mainly by the Coalition des patriotes pour le changement, including the group Retour, réclamation et réhabilitation and the Unité pour la paix en Centrafrique, but also by the national defence forces, which are alleged to have committed conflict-related sexual violence;

Encourages the national authorities, the Special Criminal Court, the courts of appeal and their criminal sessions, the military courts and the joint rapid response unit to prevent sexual violence against women and children to systematically monitor cases of sexual violence, to ensure that prosecutions are conducted and that criminal penalties are applied, and to protect and support victims, recalls in this respect the mandate of the joint unit, and calls on the authorities of the Central African Republic to provide it with the appropriate resources and means necessary for its independence and operation, and to ensure, through the relevant services, the provision of psychotherapeutic and socioeconomic support to victims;

Welcomes the renewal, by Act No. 23.001 of 9 January 2023, of the mandate of the Special Criminal Court for a further period of five years and its first ruling, on 31 October 2022, in Special Prosecutor’s Office v. Adoum Issa Sallet alias Bozizé, Ousame Yaouba and Tahir Mahamat, in which the three members of the armed group Retour, réclamation et réhabilitation were sentenced to imprisonment for terms of from 20 years to life for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Koundjili and Lemouna, in the prefecture of Lim-Pendé, in May 2019, and the decision by the Court of Assizes of 19 June 2023 on civil liability, by which 26 victims were awarded damages in amounts ranging from 200,000 to 1 million CFA francs, and calls on the authorities of the Central African Republic and neighbouring States, the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic and the international community to provide the necessary support to carry out investigations, ensure access to relevant documents and execute arrest warrants;

Takes note of the withdrawal of all charges against Maxime Mokom by the International Criminal Court on 16 October 2023, as the Court found that there was no longer a reasonable prospect of conviction at trial in view of changed circumstances regarding the availability of witnesses, affirms, however, that the victims of the acts committed by Mr. Mokom should receive some form of reparation, notes the sentencing of Mr. Mokom and others by the Bangui Court of Appeal on 21 September 2023 to life imprisonment for offences against internal security and rebellion, and welcomes the arrest on 18 March 2023 of “general” Hissein Damboucha, commander of the Front populaire pour la renaissance de la Centrafrique, whose name appears in the reports of the Panel of Experts on the Central African Republic as a perpetrator of violations and abuses of human rights and international humanitarian law;

Urges States neighbouring the Central African Republic to cooperate in combating insecurity and the impunity of members of armed groups, including through cooperation with national and international courts and the Truth, Justice, Reparation and Reconciliation Commission, and to work together on border management, the circulation of arms, refugees and transhumance;

Welcomes the efforts of the authorities of the Central African Republic that have enabled the Special Criminal Court to expedite proceedings in respect of serious violations of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law, and encourages the Government of the Central African Republic, with support from the international community, to continue its cooperation with the Special Prosecutor of the Court so that those responsible for international crimes, regardless of their status or their affiliation, are identified, arrested and brought to justice without delay;

Also welcomes the arrest on 4 September 2023 of Abdoulaye Hissène, rebel leader of the Front populaire pour la renaissance de la Centrafrique, charged by the Special Criminal Court with war crimes and crimes against humanity;

Calls upon the authorities of the Central African Republic to strengthen the financial and human resources allocated for the purpose of restoring, extending and consolidating the effective authority of the State over the entire country by strengthening the redeployment of government services, particularly in the areas of basic social services, criminal justice and prison administration, in the provinces with a view to combating impunity and ensuring stable, responsible, inclusive and transparent governance at the national and local levels;

Urges the authorities of the Central African Republic to implement the national strategy for the protection of victims and witnesses participating in judicial proceedings, and to establish appropriate programmes to provide victims of violations and members of their families with material and symbolic reparations, at both the individual and collective levels, and encourages the establishment of a reparation and compensation fund for victims, to support and complement the work of the Special Criminal Court, the Truth, Justice, Reparation and Reconciliation Commission and national courts in the fight against impunity;

Encourages the authorities to fully implement security sector reform in order to establish multi-ethnic, professional, representative and well-equipped national defence and internal security forces, with an effective command and accountability mechanism for the forces deployed, and recalls that these forces must respect the principles of accountability and the rule of law in order to win and retain the trust of local communities, including by ensuring that candidates for recruitment are subject to appropriate vetting and background checks, particularly with regard to respect for human rights;

Invites the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic to continue to exercise due diligence in the field of human rights, so as to ensure that the conduct of the national security forces and other security personnel is monitored and that their members are held accountable for their actions, and to continue to publish reports on the situation of human rights in the Central African Republic in order to enable the international community to monitor the situation;

Stresses the need to start building and rehabilitating social infrastructure in order to ensure effective access to health care, to ensure the proper functioning of schools and vocational training centres whose facilities were destroyed or damaged by armed groups and security personnel during the conflict, to ensure access to sanitation and drinking water in places where storage, treatment and distribution facilities have deteriorated as a result of the conflict, to resume agropastoral activities disrupted by insecurity and explosive devices, to register births and civil status, to issue identity documents, and to ensure the provision of local justice services in the context of the inadequate restoration of State authority, and requests the partners of the Central African Republic to help the country to meet these challenges;

Requests States Members of the United Nations and international and regional organizations to provide urgent support to local populations in response to the food insecurity affecting almost half of the population, by supporting humanitarian assistance and stabilization efforts while expanding the role of the Economic Community of Central African States in peace efforts and cross-border issues, in particular transhumance, the circulation of arms and refugees;

Urges the authorities of the Central African Republic to take great precautions to prevent the dysfunctions that affected the Truth, Justice, Reparation and Reconciliation Commission, which has been dissolved, from recurring with the new commission currently being set up, and to provide it with all the necessary resources to enable it to carry out its mandate effectively, particularly with regard to the fight against impunity and the promotion of reparation and guarantees of non-repetition, to complement the work of the Special Criminal Court and the ordinary courts, including with regard to the duration of its mandate initially provided for in the law of 7 April 2020;

Also urges the authorities of the Central African Republic, with the support of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic, other international partners and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, to continue in an inclusive manner to strengthen the effective implementation of the transitional justice mechanisms;

Stresses the need to involve all sectors of Central African civil society and to promote the full and effective participation of victims, women and young people in the dialogue between the authorities of the Central African Republic and the armed groups within the framework of the African Initiative for Peace and Reconciliation in the Central African Republic and its road map, which is the main framework for a political solution in the Central African Republic, and the need to coordinate the peace process with transitional justice in order to facilitate national reconciliation;

Welcomes the efforts made by the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic to involve the parliament in the national human rights programme, which resulted in the establishment in 2023 of a network of parliamentarians of the Central African Republic for human rights, now involved in government human rights initiatives and consultations and those of the national human rights institution and civil society, stresses the importance of a greater presence of elected representatives and their involvement in human rights issues, and calls upon donors, including those involved in promoting parliamentary initiatives, such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union, to give greater support to this involvement of elected representatives;

Urges the authorities of the Central African Republic to make it a priority to implement the recommendations of the republican dialogue;

Remains concerned about the surge in the number of children recruited by armed groups and self-defence militias, calls for the establishment and implementation of socioeconomic reintegration and psychological support programmes for minors who are victims of the six most serious violations suffered by children in armed conflict, encourages greater advocacy to improve the protection of children in armed conflict, including by taking account of the specific needs of girls, and calls upon armed groups to end such serious violations and abuses and upon the authorities of the Central African Republic to enforce the Child Protection Code;

Remains deeply concerned about the conditions in which displaced persons and refugees are living and encourages the international community to support the national authorities and host countries in offering appropriate protection and assistance for victims of violence, in particular women, children and persons with disabilities;

Expresses its concern about the conditions of detention of persons deprived of liberty and the implementation of procedures relating to deprivation of liberty, and urges the Government to adopt a sustainable approach consisting of better equipping its places of detention, increasing the professionalism of its personnel, including judicial and prison personnel, and committing itself to responding in a comprehensive manner to the recommendations and observations of the various international and national mechanisms, in particular in the reports published to this effect, including by the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic;

Calls upon the national authorities to protect and promote the right to freedom of movement for all, including internally displaced persons and refugees, without distinction, and to respect their right to choose their place of residence, to return home or to seek protection elsewhere;

Encourages States Members of the United Nations, within the framework of international cooperation, the relevant United Nations bodies, international financial institutions and other international organizations concerned, and also donors, to provide the Central African Republic with technical assistance and capacity-building in order to assist it in promoting respect for human rights and undertaking reform of the justice and security sectors, and to stand ready to respond to the urgent needs and priorities identified by the Central African Republic;

Encourages the effective implementation of the national development plan for the period 2024–2028 and the national human rights policy and its action plan for the period 2023–2027, drawn up by the authorities of the Central African Republic with the technical and financial support of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic and the United Nations country team, and the implementation of the recommendations of the supervisory mechanisms, so that the Central African Republic complies with its obligations under the international human rights instruments it has ratified and with international humanitarian law;

Decides to renew, for one year, the mandate of the Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in the Central African Republic, which is to assess, monitor and report on the situation with a view to making recommendations relating to technical assistance and capacity-building in the field of human rights;

Welcomes the fact that the Central African Republic underwent the fourth cycle of the universal periodic review on 26 January 2024, its openness, reflected by the acceptance of 238 of the 244 recommendations issued within this framework, and the efforts made by the Government, with the support of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic, in designing and drafting an inclusive action plan, drawn up in consultation with civil society, national institutions, the parliament and key ministries, to implement the universal periodic review recommendations;

Notes the call by the Government of the Central African Republic for increased technical assistance and capacity-building efforts to support the priorities of the Government in implementing the recommendations accepted as part of the fourth cycle of the universal periodic review;

Requests the Independent Expert to pay particular attention to violations of human rights and international humanitarian law alleged to have been committed by all parties to the conflict;

Requests all parties to cooperate fully with the Independent Expert in carrying out his mandate;

Decides to convene, at its fifty-eighth session, a high-level dialogue to enable it to assess human rights developments on the ground, with particular emphasis on decentralization and local governance as tools for implementing human rights recommendations at the local level, as political and social responses to the restoration and consolidation of State authority throughout the Central African Republic, and as levers to support the peace and national reconciliation process;

Requests the Independent Expert to work closely with the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic and United Nations bodies, particularly in the area of transitional justice;

Also requests the Independent Expert to work closely with all United Nations bodies, the African Union and the Economic Community of Central African States, and with other relevant international organizations, Central African civil society and all relevant human rights mechanisms;

Further requests the Independent Expert to work closely with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict;

Requests the Independent Expert to provide an oral update on his report on technical assistance and capacity-building in the field of human rights in the Central African Republic to the Human Rights Council at its fifty-ninth session and to submit a written report to the Council at its sixtieth session and to the General Assembly at its eightieth session;

Requests the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to continue to provide the Independent Expert with all the necessary technical, human and financial resources to enable him to carry out fully his mandate, including the organization of capacity-building programmes for national institutions with a mandate to protect human rights, combat impunity and corruption, and strengthen democratic governance in the country;

Decides to remain seized of the matter.

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