Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Bangui (Agenzia Fides) - Over 5,000 dossiers on violence committed in the Central African Republic from 2014 until today will be submitted to the Special Criminal Court for Central Africa by the "Justice and Peace" Episcopal Commission.
"We have prepared 5,285 dossiers to be submitted to this court", said Fr. Frederic Nakombo, Secretary General of "Justice and Peace", who added that the Catholic Church's body has created a network to defend victims who registered themselves.
"Justice and Peace" is one of the various civil society organizations that have announced that they have filed dossiers on crimes committed in the Country to be submitted to the Special Criminal Court, a body created under UN aegis to investigate and judge crimes committed in the country from 2003 to 2015. Civil society organizations seek to extend the Court's mandate until 2017, as several areas of the Central African Republic still live in insecurity.
It is necessary to make sure that the serious crimes committed by the various armed groups that upset the Country do not remain unpunished is one of the demands of the Platform for Religious Confessions for Peace and Social Cohesion.
According to Imam Oumar Kobine Layama, the perpetrators of the crimes are known by all. They cannot therefore be amnestied so as to "avoid Central Africa from sinking back into a cycle of hatred and revenge".
Cardinal Dieudionné Nzapalainga, Archbishop of Bangui, in a statement to Croix criticized the agreement signed on June 19 in Rome (see Fides 23/6/2017), pointing out that "the text, as published, is an open door to impunity for crimes committed". The Cardinal also denied that he had signed this agreement, reached with the mediation of Sant'Egidio Community, denying that a "certain Godefroy Mokamanede" presented as "representative of Cardinal Nzapalainga" signed it on his behalf. In a statement published on June 22, the Cardinal states that "he did not give a mandate to anyone to represent him and make commitments on his behalf, personally, or as President of CECA (Central African Bishops' Conference) or as a founding member of the Platform of Religious Confessions". (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 27/6/2017)
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