The National Assembly of the Central African Republic (CAR) must ensure that drafting of a new constitution does not jeopardise ongoing efforts towards peace and reconciliation in the country, UN experts said today.
“Any constitution drafted by human beings can be improved upon. But the leaders of the Central African Republic must ensure that the best interests of the country are served. Decisions made today will impact the ongoing transitional justice process and the future of citizens of the CAR. To this end, the effectiveness of a participatory and inclusive framework is necessary to safeguard the fundamental rights of Central Africans,” said Yao Agbetse, UN Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in the Central African Republic and Clément Nyaletsossi Voule, UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association.
On 12 August 2022, President Faustin-Archange Touadera announced a constitutional referendum to bring amendments to the CAR constitution. The initiative was proposed by the presidential majority in the country’s National Assembly. On 26 August, Decree No. 22.348 created a Committee responsible for drafting a new Constitution.
The two UN experts urged legislators leading the drafting of the new constitution to act in good faith, with genuine transparency and in consideration of dissenting voices. “The current social and political context in the CAR demands this approach to constitution-making,” they said.
“All parties and people of the Central African nation must participate in the constitution-making process,” Agbetse and Voule said. They said constitution making must guarantee the freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association of citizens, organizations and political parties.
“Any restrictions on the right to peaceful demonstration could lead to violence, hardening of positions and grave violations of human rights and international humanitarian law,” the experts said.
They urged the Central African Authorities to develop all possible means to counter hate speech and incitement to violence as part of the process of drafting the new Constitution, in order to safeguard national cohesion. All those who spread hatred and divisive rhetoric must be held accountable.
The independent expert and the special rapporteur also stepped-up calls for accountability and justice in the CAR.
“Continued impunity and the failure to deliver justice will stop the march towards peace and reconciliation in its tracks,” Agbetse and Voule said.
The experts expressed concern about tensions that had arisen from the constitutional reform proposals, and called on all stakeholders and actors to exercise restraint and engage in dialogue.
“Any attempt to act outside the rule of law or in defiance of the will of the people will sow the seeds of violence that can jeopardise the implementation of the recommendations of the Republican Dialogue, the Peace Agreement of 6 February 2019 and the Luanda Joint Roadmap,” the experts said. “State institutions with control of legality, like the Constitutional Court, must exercise their mandate independently without obstruction or interference.”