UNITED NATIONS, July 30 (NNN-AGENCIES) — : The United Nations Security Council extended a Central African Republic (CAR) arms embargo and targeted sanctions regime for another year, however China abstained in the vote because it believes the measures should be removed.
The 15-member Security Council imposed the arms embargo on CAR in December 2013 when mainly Muslim Selaka rebels ousted then president Francois Bozize, prompting reprisals from mostly Christian militias. A targeted sanctions regime was agreed in 2014, when UN peacekeepers were also deployed to the country.
The gold and diamond-rich country of 4.7 million people has since been mired in violence.
“There appears to be a growing disconnect between the Security Council sanctions and the evolving situation on the ground,” China’s deputy UN Ambassador Dai Bing told the council after the vote.
“The intention was to help CAR restore national stability and normal social order. In reality, however, the arms embargo has increasingly become an obstacle that hampers the CAR government’s efforts to strengthen security capabilities,” he said.
The remaining 14 Security Council members voted in favour of extending the arms embargo. The CAR government is able to import weapons with the approval of the UN Security Council’s CAR sanctions committee.
Russia’s deputy UN Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy encouraged the CAR government to meet UN benchmarks that would allow the council to consider lifting the arms embargo next year. Moscow has been jockeying for influence in CAR with France.
Russia recently sent a group of 600 military instructors to CAR to train the army, police, and national gendarmerie, Russia’s foreign ministry said earlier this month. — NNN-AGENCIES
