The Central African Republic has been in turmoil since a military coup last March left it in political disarray. Now a University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor says there is “a high risk of massive human rights violations,” which could possibly lead to genocide.
The CAR is a former French colony that borders the Congo and South Sudan in Africa. Scott Straus, a professor of political science specializing in the study of genocide, said the situation in the CAR is “very alarming” because of reports citing mass atrocities.
The current violence stems partly from religious differences between the minority Muslim population and the majority Christian population.
The fear, according to Straus, is the current violence will spiral out of control and into genocide.
“I don’t know if genocide is going to happen,” Straus said. “It seems like a high risk of atrocities occurring there, but it’s a very remote country … we don’t know a lot of what is going on.”
The U.S. and the international community do not have to look far into the past for evidence of genocide. Both Rwanda and Bosnia experienced genocides in the ’90s and recently the international community had to confront atrocities in Darfur.
Straus emphasized information about the situation is still in its early stages and will continue to unfold, but he encourages students to pay attention as the UN continues to gather facts about the conflicts in the CAR.
“I always say learn about the situation first, before you decide what the best course of action is,” Straus said.
