Wagner group involved in ‘widespread’ killing, torture and rape across Central African Republic

Wagner group mercenaries have been involved in “widespread, systematic, and well-planned campaigns of mass killing, torture and rape” across the Central African Republic (CAR) in support of its president, a new report has claimed.

The private army, which launched a short-lived rebellion against Russian president Vladimir Putin’s regime last weekend, arrived in 2018 to help the regime of CAR president Faustin-Archange Touadéra to tackle an armed rebellion in the country.

According to an inquiry conducted by The Sentry, an investigative and policy organisation co-founded by actor-turned-activist George Clooney, the mercenaries have been helping Touadéra to conduct a “campaign of terror” to remain in power. Released on June 26th, the Architects of Terror: The Wagner Group’s Blueprint for State Capture in the Central African Republic report details how Wagner operatives have infiltrated CAR’s security structures since their arrival in the former French colony.

Initially the mercenary group owned by Yevgeny Prigozhin, which has been at the forefront of Russia’s war against Ukraine, helped Touadéra and his inner circle to create militias that could be controlled for their own interests. However, in the last two years Wagner has increased the training and outfitting of approximately a dozen military units – many of which are comprised of fighters from Touadéra’s ethnic group – that operate as the president’s proxies in military operations.

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While Touadéra’s inner circle retains control of operations within CAR’s capital Bangui, the report’s authors say Wagner has managed to establish military control of operations outside the city. It notes that Wagner’s “motto is ‘leave no trace’ – in other words kill everyone, including women and children”.

According to The Sentry the terror campaigns are led by CAR armed forces and Wagner fighters backed by militias, and they serve as a psychological weapon to force anti-Touadéra groups and the broader population to accept the president and Wagner’s authority.

The report goes on to say Wagner has perfected “a blueprint for state capture” in CAR that enables it to amass military power, secure access to and plunder precious minerals, and subdue the population with terror.

“As Wagner continues to expand its reach into ever more countries – with Burkina Faso being the most recent example, and Chad the next target – it is likely that the paramilitary group will continue to deploy strategies that have seen success,” the report warns.

The Sentry recommends that United Nations member states establish an alliance to counter Wagner’s growing influence in Africa. In addition it says Western nations should widen the scope of sanctions on Wagner’s network and designate it a terrorist group.

The Wagner group’s future in Russia’s war against Ukraine has become uncertain since it called off last weekend’s march on Moscow. However, in an interview with Russia Today on Monday Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov pledged its “private military contractors” would remain in CAR and Mali. It has been estimated the Wagner group has operated in 14 African countries since it first emerged nearly a decade ago.