The Central African Republic (CAR) has been marked by a tumultuous and unstable trajectory since gaining independence in 1960. The CAR population has long had the unquenched thirst to know the truth about the legacies of human rights abuses perpetrated in the numerous coups and enduring cycles of violence in the country. To come to terms with historical injustices and atrocities, the country has integrated truth-seeking in its transitional justice process. The first truth-seeking attempt in the CAR came in 2003 after two decades of successive politico-military violence between 1995 and 2003, with the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). The second and most recent structure, the Truth, Justice, Reparation, and Reconciliation Commission (TJRRC), was created in 2020.
The 2003 TRC was created by President Francois Bozize, after a violent conflict from 2001 to 2003 between an offshoot of the Central African forces loyal to President Felix Ange-Patasse and the other faction supporting his chief of staff, Bozize. Both protagonists received foreign assistance and the hostilities resulted in indiscriminate and extrajudicial killings, sexual violence, pillaging, and the forced displacement of tens of thousands of civilians.
The 2003 TRC, a product of a national concertation organised under pressure from the international community, was mandated to: establish an account of specific facts that plagued the Central African society from the 1960s till 2003; contribute to outlining the story of the country and the contested acts of the government or the opposition; contribute to the revealing of the truth necessary to improve practices in matters of human rights on one hand, and implementing a veritable reform on the other; and promote understanding and true national reconciliation. The TRC interviewed eight personalities, including David Dacko, a former President, and recommended solutions to the problems discovered.
The 2003 TRC had an inadequate mandate and encountered resource constraints, political intrusion, and distrust by the population, stopping it from offering comprehensive information on the country’s intricate and multi-layered conflicts. By 2008, the CAR, faced with a deteriorating social fabric, organised a 10-day inclusive political dialogue between the government, the opposition, rebel groups, and civil society. The dialogue aimed to halt violence in the country and to create a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to reconcile Central Africans based on historical truth, a goal never achieved until violence resurfaced in the CAR in December 2012, leading to a coup in March 2013.
The Seleka rebellion that erupted in December 2012 and the ineffectiveness of the 2003 TRC results reignited the desire for truth-seeking in the CAR. As part of the political solutions to the CAR conflict, the Khartoum peace agreement of 2019 between the CAR government and 14 armed groups emphasised the need to intensify the establishment of a truth commission in the CAR. The TJRRC was created by Law No. 20-009 of April 7, 2020, to investigate and establish the truth, and allocate responsibility for the violence in the CAR between March 29, 1959, and December 31, 2019. The commission’s mandate includes the establishment of truth, the search for justice, the restoration of victims’ dignity, and national reconciliation. The TJRRC, with a four-year mandate, began work in 2021. By 2024, it had interviewed only about 12 community leaders. On May 3, 2024, security forces sealed the TJRRC’s head office after the government suspended its members through the decree of May 7, 2024, and made a call for candidates for new commissioners.
The CAR’s truth-seeking processes have been hampered by a lack of political will, inadequate resources, political constraints and interference, and security threats. The various truth-seeking attempts in the CAR have encountered substantial impediments in performing their fact-finding and truth-telling mandates. Truth Commissioners lack independence and resources, and are politically controlled. President Bozizi restricted the 2003 TRC from investigating atrocities perpetrated by forces loyal to him, and he also failed to implement the Commission’s recommendations. This lack of political will has persisted since TJRRC was established in 2020, with the government failing to adopt a favourable administrative and legal framework, allocating inadequate resources, and violating the law to interfere in the affairs of the TJRRC.
Also, persistent insecurity limits truth-seeking actors from accessing conflict-affected areas, while inadequate victim protection mechanisms prevent victims from testifying. The CAR’s truth-seeking process demonstrates the obstacles to launching an effective transitional justice strategy during enduring conflict and weak state capacity. Without suitable political, institutional, financial, and security backing, the truth-seeking processes have failed to achieve their essential task of uncovering the truth about the legacies of atrocities. This case emphasises the need for truth-seeking supported by inclusive institutional mechanisms and political commitment. As its mandate draws to an end, the TJRRC’s success substantially depends on its potential to override the challenges that undermined the 2003 TRC, such as political will on the part of the government, securing sufficient resources, ensuring political independence, and building public trust and popular participation.
Keywords: Central African Republic, truth-seeking, sexual violence, war crimes, conflict, peace and conflict, conflict resolution, truth
Robert Kosho Ndiyun
Robert Kosho Ndiyun is a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at Tshwane University of Technology. He was previously a PhD researcher at the Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Johannesburg, South Africa. His research focuses on transitional justice in conflict and post conflict situations. He also Lectured at International University Bamenda in Cameroon, Heritage Higher Institute of Peace and Development Studies Yaoundé, and Higher Institute of Educational and Professional Studies, Yaoundé.
