Michaël Zumstein

Central African Republic is currently going through the most acute security and humanitarian crisis of its history since its independence in 1960. The country is facing a wave of murders, forced exodus and unprecedented lootings. War crimes are everywhere. And the ethnic cleansing against the Muslim community is radical.

Three months after the beginning of the French military operation “Sangaris”, wished and welcomed by a huge majority of Central Africans and with a strong legitimacy on the international scene, the picture is grim.

If, in the end, foreign troops – from Sangaris, the African Union, the European Union and soon the UN – succeed to restore security in the country, the operation couldn’t prevent the storm hitting the CAR already weakened by one year of crimes committed by the Seleka, the Muslim rebel movement which came from the North. Foreign forces witnessed revenge killings on both sides, which will be described as “crimes against humanity” if, one day, the World Court takes up the issue.

Today, the country seems at peace only because there are no more enemies or targets, in places where the ethnic cleansing occurred. And the war is far from being over [...].

Remy Ourdan for Le Monde, le 05/03/2014