Accord de cessation des hostilités en République Centrafricaine (Brazzaville Agreement on Cessation of Hostilities)

Country/entity
Central African Republic
Region
Africa (excl MENA)
Agreement name
Accord de cessation des hostilités en République Centrafricaine (Brazzaville Agreement on Cessation of Hostilities)
Date
23 Jul 2014
Agreement status
Multiparty signed/agreed
Interim arrangement
Yes
Agreement/conflict level
Intrastate/intrastate conflict
Stage
Ceasefire/related
Conflict nature
Government
Peace process
CAR: coups and rebellions process
Parties
Ont Signé: Les ex-Combattants et Eléments armés

Pour le Front Populaire pour la Renaissance de la Centrafrique (FPRC),
Géneral Mohamed MOUSSA DHAFANE

Pour les anti-Balaka,
Monsieur Patrice Edouard NGAISSONA

Pour le Front Democratique du Peuple Centrafricain (FDPC),
Monsieur André Le-Gaillard RINGUI

Pour Révolution et Justice (RJ),
Monsieur Armel SAYO

Pour le Mouvement de Libération Centrafricaine pour la Justice (MLCJ),
Monsieur ABAKAR SABONE

Pour l'Union des forces Républicaines (UPR)
Monsieur Florian N'DJADDER BEDAY

Pour l'Union des Forces Républiques Fondamentales (UFRF)
Monsieur Dieu-benit GBEYA-KIKOBE
Third parties
En présence de:

Gouvernement de Transition:

Le Ministre des Affaires Etrangères, de li'Integration Africaine et de la Francophonie,
Son Excellence Toussaint KONGO-DOUDOU

Conseil National de Transition,
Honorable Alexandre Ferdinand N'GUENDET

Alternative Citoyenne pour la Démocratie et la Paix (ACDP)
Monsieur Enoch DERANT LAKOUE

Ancienne Majorité Présidentielle
Monsieur Laurent NGON-BABA

Groupement des Partis Politiques/Républicains Travaillistes Légalistes (GPP/RTL),
Monsieur Bertin BEA

Union des Partis Politiques pour la Reconstruction Nationale (UPPRN),
Pierre Abraham MBOKANI

Rassemblement des autres Partis Politiques
Monsieur Auguste BOUKANGA

Partis Politiques sans Plateforme
Monsieur Henri GOUANDIA

Personnalités Indépendantes:

- Madame Alphonsine BOGANDA-YANGONGO

- Monsieur Stève KOBA

Conseil National de la Jeunesse (CNJ)

- Monsieur Félix Wulfrand RIVA
- Monsieur Abdel-Aziz AROUFAЇ

Organisation des Femmes Centrafricaines (OFCA)
Madame Marie-Annick SERVICE

Comité Consultatif des Femmes Leaders,
Dr. SOKAMBI DIBERT BEKOY

Haut Conseil de la Communication,
Monsieur José Richard POUAMBI

Syndicats des Travailleurs,
Monsieur Michel LOUDEGUE

Conféderation Nationale des Agriculteurs et éleveurs
Madame Brigitte ANDARA

Confessions Religieuses:
- Monseigneur Dieudonné NZAPALAINGA
- IMAM KOBINE LAYAMA

Conseil Inter-ONG en Centrafrique (CIONGCA)
Monsieur Célestin NGAKOLA

Groupement Interprofessionnel Centrafrique (GICA),
Monsieur Giles POTOLO NGBANGANDIMBO

La Diaspora,
Monsieur Maurice OUAMBO

Déplacés Internes,
Monsieur Jean Clause MALABI

Communautés à Risques:
- Monsieur ATAHIROU BALLA DODO
- Madame ADJA ASTA MOUSSA

La Médiation Internationale
Pour Les Nations Unies
Le Représentant Spécial du Secrétaire Général de l'ONU en Afrique Centrale,
Monsieur Abdoulaye BATHILY

Pour L'Union Africaine
Le Vice-Médiateur,
Monsieur SOUMAILOU BOUBEY MAIGA

Pour la CEEAC
Le Rapporteur
Le Secrétaire Général de la CEEAC
Ambassadeur Ahmad ALLAM-MI

Le Médiateur international
Le Président de la République du Congo
Son Excellence Monsieur Denis SASSOU N'GUESSO
Description
A Short agreement ceasing hostilities between the conflict parties. The agreement covers ceasefire provisions, DDR, and some broader humanitarian issues.
Main category
Page 1, PREAMBLE
...
Considering the ongoing desire of Her Excellency Madame Catherine SAMBA-PANZA, Head of the State of Transition, reiterated in various speeches (Brussels, Paris, Oslo, Malabo) and her last address to the Nation on July 4, 2014, to promote political dialogue and national reconciliation among all the sons and daughters of Central Africa

Page 2, Article 2
The cessation of hostilities implies:
...
• The cessation of all acts of violence against civil and military populations, and respect for and protection of human rights. These acts of violence include summary executions, torture, harassment, burning of villages and public and private property, destruction of religious buildings, pillage, the arbitrary detention and execution of civilian and military personnel, recruitment of child soldiers, sexual violence and arming civilians;

Page 3, The ex-combatants and Central African armed elements agree the following, Article 5
The parties also agree to:
...
b. Prohibit and condemn all violence, including sexual violence, against civilian and military populations
...
d. To end and prevent any future violations of children, in particular murder, mutilation, exploitation, rape and other violence

Page 8, (signed) In the presence of:
...Organisation des Femmes Centrafricaines (OFCA) [Organisation of Central African Women]
Madame Marie-Annick SERVICE
...Comité Consultatif des Femmes Leaders [Consultation Committee of Women Leaders]
Dr. SOKAMBI DIBERT BEKOY

Women, girls and gender

Participation

No specific mention.

Equality

No specific mention.

Particular groups of women

No specific mention.

International law

No specific mention.

New institutions

No specific mention.

Violence against women
Violence against women→Sexual violence
Page 3, Article 2: The cessation of hostilities entails:
...the cessation of all acts of violence against the civilian and military populations, and respect and protection of human rights. These acts of violence include summary executions, torture, harassment, the deliberate burning of villages and public and private goods, the destruction of religious buildings, pillaging, the detention and arbitrary execution of civilians and combatants, as well as the recruitment and use of child soldiers, sexual violence and the arming of civilians.

Page 4, Article 5: The parties also commit to:
... (b) prohibit and condemn all violence against the civilian and military populations, including sexual violence.
Transitional justice

No specific mention.

Institutional reform

No specific mention.

Development

No specific mention.

Implementation
Implementation→Signing or witnessing agreement
Page 8, (signed) In the presence of:
...Organisation des Femmes Centrafricaines (OFCA) [Organisation of Central African Women]
Madame Marie-Annick SERVICE
...Comité Consultatif des Femmes Leaders [Consultation Committee of Women Leaders]
Dr. SOKAMBI DIBERT BEKOY
Other

No specific mention.

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

CESSATION OF HOSTILITIES AGREEMENT

PREAMBLE

Considering the relevant provisions in the United Nations Charter, the Resolutions of the United Nations Security Council, and in particular resolutions:

2121 (2013);

2127 (2014);

2134 (2014) and 2149 (2014) of the Constitutive Act of the African Union and the relevant decisions of the Central African Peace and Security Council of Central Africa (COPAX);

Considering the African Union Convention on the protection and assistance of displaced persons in Africa, signed in Kampala on October 23 2009;

Considering the regional resolutions on regulating the conflict in Central Africa;

notably Libreville Global Peace Agreement of 2008 and 2013, as well as the Ndjaema Declarations of 2013 and 2014;

Considering the national initiatives on conflict regulation, notably the Recommendations of the Inclusive Political Dialogue of December 20, 2008, the Charter of Constitutional Transition of 2013, and the Transition Route Map which resulted;

Conscious of the need for dialogue in order to establish a durable and secure peace throughout the national territory, an essential condition for reconstructing the country and building democracy;

Considering the ongoing desire of Her Excellency Madame Catherine SAMBA-PANZA, Head of the State of Transition, reiterated in various speeches (Brussels, Paris, Oslo, Malabo) and her last address to the Nation on July 4, 2014, to promote political dialogue and national reconciliation among all the sons and daughters of Central Africa;

Considering the enthusiasm across the nation, particularly among the institutions of the Transition, in the living forces of the Nation including the religious authorities, civil society and the political parties, to build a peaceful society and national agreement, by supporting the present Transition framework;

Reaffirming their desire to contribute to a definitive return to peace, to take part in the Brazzaville Forum and to sign an Agreement for the cessation of hostilities;

Reaffirming their unwavering determination to bring to an end the underlying causes of this ongoing state of violence, insecurity, political instability and exclusion which has reduced the Central African people to a state of distress and suffering, and which is gravely compromising any prospect of economic development, of equality and of social justice in the country;

Responding to the International Mediation led by his Excellency Denis SASSOU NGUESSO, President of the Republic of Congo, Mediator of the Central African crisis, assisted by Mr BOUBEYE MAÏGA, Representing the President of the Commission of the African Union and Mr Abdoulaye BATHILY, UN Secretary-General Special Representative for Central Africa, set up following the Meeting of Heads of State and of Government in the margins of the 23rd Ordinary Summit of the African Union, held in Malabo in Equatorial Guinea on June 27, 2014, on the situation in the Republic of Central Africa;

The ex-combatants and Central African armed elements agree the following:

Article 1:

- The present Cessation of Hostilities Agreement is established between the belligerents to take effect across the whole territory of the Central African Republic;

- The belligerents agree to end all hostilities upon signature of the Agreement;

Article 2:

The cessation of hostilities implies:

• An immediate end to hostilities and abstention from all military activities and all forms of violence;

• The cessation of all acts of violence against civil and military populations, and respect for and protection of human rights.

These acts of violence include summary executions, torture, harassment, burning of villages and public and private property, destruction of religious buildings, pillage, the arbitrary detention and execution of civilian and military personnel, recruitment of child soldiers, sexual violence and arming civilians;

• The denunciation of all acts of violence and violations of human rights and international humanitarian law

• Abstention from any action or provocation liable to damage efforts to build a spirit of fraternity and national harmony;

• Commitment by the parties to communicate cessation of hostilities to the general public within 24 hours of the date of signature of the present Agreement, via their respective chains of command and to the general public;

• The Parties to desist from all propaganda, and discourse of hatred and division based on religious, tribal or partisan allegiance;

and to put an end to acts of intolerance and media campaigns liable to provoke religious or political confrontation;

• The organisation of an information campaign for their supporters on the content of the present Agreement, and on the part of the government, one targeted on the whole Central African population.

Article 3:

As soon as the present Agreement enters into force:

a. The Parties commit to removing all obstacles to state authority in their respective zones, including in particular illegal barriers and parallel administrations.

b. The Parties commit to the global process of national reconciliation to be pursued in the Central African Republic, and to end immediately any restrictions on the free movement of goods and people throughout the national territory, and on the work of national and international actors in exercising their duties under different United Nations Resolutions.

c. The Parties undertake to remove from their ranks and repatriate any mercenaries such that they may return to their own countries with the support of the international community.

d. The Parties undertake to reject any project to divide up the Central African Republic.

Article 4:

All ex-combatants and armed elements signatories to the present Agreement must be re-grouped without undue delay, if the necessary resources are available, in areas to be mutually agreed with the Transition Government and the International Community.

Article 5:

The Parties also agree to:

a. Respect and engender respect for human rights;

b. Prohibit and condemn all violence, including sexual violence, against civilian and military populations;

c. To put in place a mechanism within their own organisations to monitor these commitments, and to report any violations to the competent authorities, to guard against impunity;

d. To end and prevent any future violations of children, in particular murder, mutilation, exploitation, rape and other violence;

e. To end the recruitment of child soldiers, in line with the African Charter for the Rights and Welfare of the Child, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Optional Protocol on the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict.

Article 6:

The parties undertake to:

a. Respect free movement in general, and in particular of humanitarian convoys, as well as humanitarian enclaves, and to create favourable conditions for assisting refugees and displaced persons;

b. To promote a favourable social and security environment for the return of refugees and displaced persons to their communities.

Article 7:

A priority programme must be implemented urgently in order to:

a. Create the necessary conditions for the return, reinstallation and reinsertion of persons displaced by the conflict;

b. Fight against criminality, in particular that specified in Article 2;

c. Rehabilitate the zones affected by the conflict.

Article 8:

The parties will establish a committee to monitor implementation of the present agreement as follows:

1. 01 representative per politico-military group;

2. G8-RCA;

3. 06 representatives of the Transition Institutions (Presidency, CNT, Government).

This Committee should establish regional and local sub-committees as needed.

The monitoring committee for implementation of the present Agreement may be advised by any qualified person.

Article 9:

In case of any litigation or disagreement arising during the implementation of this agreement, the Parties may refer to the Monitoring Committee.

If this fails they may request International Mediation.

Article 10:

The present Agreement enters into force upon signature.

Done in Brazzaville, July 23, 2014

Signatures