Human rights watch (HRW) accused Wagner group members of beating, torturing and executing civilians between February 2019 and November 2021 in the Central African Republic (CAR). HRW refers to witnesses "from the Western governments and United Nations experts and special rapporteurs," citing "evidence that Russian-linked forces operating in the CAR include significant numbers of members of the Wagner Group."
"Compelling evidence shows that forces identified as Russian supporting the Central African government have committed serious abuses against civilians with total impunity," summarizes Ida Sawyer, director of the Crisis and Conflict Division at HRW. The 13-page report was created based on the testimonies of dozens of victims, relatives and witnesses.
"Forces identified by witnesses as Russian appear to have executed, tortured and beaten civilians since 2019," HRW said. "The Central African government certainly has the right to request international security assistance, but it cannot allow foreign forces to kill and mistreat civilians with impunity," accuses Ida Sawyer.
Henri-Marie Dondra, the former Central African prime minister, describes the situation as a "rumor."
A month ago, HRW accused Russian mercenaries of executing around 300 civilian men over five days during a military operation. "The incident is the worst single atrocity reported in Mali's decade-long armed conflict," HRW said. The killings took place between March 27 and 31 in Moura, a rural town of around 10,000 inhabitants in the Mopti region. This hotspot of jihadist activity became a source of spreading the military fighters to neighboring countries in the Sahel region (more on the topic here).
Moscow is inconsistent in its response to such news. In an interview with Italian TV Mediaset, Sergei Lavrov expressed that Wagner "has nothing to do with the Russian state." According to him, Moscow gave explanations to France about this when the French government "became nervous because Wagner signed an agreement with the government of Mali to provide security services."
On other occasions, Moscow claims that Russian paramilitaries are "unarmed military instructors" responsible for training African soldiers.
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