Central African Republic - Every Casualty Counts

Annexed by France in the 19^th century, the Central African Republic became independent in 1960. It was ruled as a one-party state until the first presidential elections were held in 1993. A military coup in 2003 returned the country to military rule.

In 2013, a coalition of Muslim rebel groups known as Seleka took control of the country. Rival Christian militias, called the anti-Balaka, rose up to counter the Seleka. A UN peacekeeping force was established in 2014, incorporating African Union and French troops previously deployed to CAR, but as of 2025 the armed violence continues. Multiple peace agreements have failed to stabilise the situation.

Large parts of the country remain under the control of armed groups, and thousands of civilians have been killed or displaced by perpetrators on all sides of the conflict. Russian military and Wagner Group mercenaries and Rwandan forces are also involved in the conflict, supporting the CAR government, in exchange for exploiting the country’s natural resources.

Spillover from Sudan’s civil war has exacerbated the violence, and the Lords Resistance Army also operates in parts of CAR. Hundreds of thousands of refugees have fled to Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

What we’re doing

Every Casualty Counts works with members of the Casualty Recorders Network to support efforts to document every person killed in the ongoing armed violence in the Central African Republic. Working together we aim to ensure every victim is documented, and that their collective stories can lead to reform.

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We are excited to announce two vacancies on the ECC team: Executive Director and Advocacy Director.

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In May 2026, Every Casualty Counts joined nineteen other organisations in a joint civil society statement issued ahead of the United Nations Security Council’s annual open debate on the protection
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Casualty recording in the Central African Republic

There is no known state-led initiative to comprehensively identify and document people killed in the conflict since 2012. A national commission of inquiry to investigate human rights violations committed since 2002 was established in 2013 by presidential decree, but it has not published any findings and may have been discontinued.

United Nations casualty recording in CAR

An International Commission of Inquiry was established in 2014 by the UN Security Council, to investigate violations of international humanitarian and human rights law in CAR by parties to the conflict. The Commission submitted its final report in December 2014, including information about thousands of killings, without naming individuals.

In 2017, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and MINUSCA jointly released a mapping report, which documented mass killings and other serious human rights violations across CAR between 2003 and 2015. The Mapping Project Report was mandated by the Security Council. The Human Rights Division of the UN peacekeeping mission MINUSCA monitors and reports monthly on human rights violations, including unlawful killings.

The Central African Republic is one of the countries monitored by the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict. The office produces annual public reports with statistics on grave human rights violations against children in armed conflict, including killings.

Civil society casualty recording in CAR

War crimes, including killings of civilians, have been investigated and documented by various international human rights organisations. Their reports on these incidents include verified, detailed information on many individual cases. However, they do not aim to document all deaths across the conflict comprehensively.

National and local organisations face major security and logistical challenges to investigating and documenting killings. The safety of witnesses cannot be assured in the context of ongoing violence, and constant displacement of communities can make them difficult to track down. Investigators cannot travel safely to affected communities, and are at high risk of reprisals from perpetrators. Any information about casualties, witnesses or casualty recording staff must be stored under high security.

Information on individual casualties

Sources of information about people killed in the armed conflict in the Central African Republic:

Crisis Tracker

CRN Member

The Crisis Tracker is a geospatial database and reporting project that tracks conflict-related incidents, including casualties, in the Haut Mbomou, Mbomou, and Haute Kotto prefectures in the Central African Republic, as well as Bas Uele and Haut Uele provinces in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The Crisis Tracker project exists to overcome the current deficit of relevant and timely data about the impact of armed conflict on vulnerable civilian populations. Its data is drawn primarily from community-based early warning systems across 120 communities. In addition to the online map, the Crisis Tracker team also publishes regular security briefs.

For the security of survivors and witnesses, Crisis Tracker does not normally publish identifying details for individuals.

MINUSCA

MINUSCA is the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic, mandated by the UN Security Council. The Human Rights component of MINUSCA monitors the human rights situation and publishes monthly reports on violations including killings of civilians.

The MINUSCA 2017 Mapping Project Report is a detailed investigation into human rights violations and violations of humanitarian law across CAR between 2003 and 2015. It contains details of thousands of killings.

Image: Bangui by Afrika Force, licensed under CC BY 2.0