Elephant
Poaching on the Rise
Children are the subject of
widespread human rights violations by the Seleka rebel coalition in the Central
African Republic (CAR), the United Nations News Service reported on Thursday.
Among the allegations by a senior
U.N. official are reports are killings, sexual violence, and the use of child
soldiers in the Seleka rebellion against CAR. Additionally, there are reports
that elephants in the protected Dzanga-Sangha area are increasingly being
poached, according to the Associated Press.
Here's a closer look at the report
and the crisis in CAR.
Armed and uniformed children seen on
military duties
Leila Zerrougui, the
Secretary-General's Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict,
said that uniformed and armed boys had been seen at checkpoints and
participating in looting in every town controlled by the Seleka coalition.
"I call on all military commanders in charge of the different armed groups
in the Séléka coalition to immediately release children within their ranks and
to issue command orders to refrain from further recruitment and use of
children," she said, according to the U.N. News Center.
In addition, cases of rape and
sexual violence against girls has been reported to the U.N., and 2 million
children are in need of humanitarian assistance due to the ongoing violence in
the country.
Bombardment of residential areas
killed 29 children in one week of the crisis.
Poaching increases in protected
region
The World Wildlife Federation's head
of anti-poaching policy, Bas Huijbregts, said that "elephant poaching is
on the increase and given the fact that Central African Republic for the moment
is also in dire straits we are fearing for the worst in terms of people trying
to look seriously for ivory," according to the AP.
Huijbregts attributed the
lawlessness to the increased poaching, which saw 40 elephants killed after
rebels overthrew the government. However, the WWF says it isn't possible to
know how many elephants have died due to a lack of forest patrols.
The rainforest preserve is in the
southwestern region of the country, where 3,400 forest elephants live.
A report from Reuters indicated that eight conservation groups were meeting in Brazzaville,
Republic of the Congo, to try to find ways to curb the poaching epidemic.
Poaching of elephants is fueled by a demand in Asia for ivory which has killed
an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 elephants in Africa per year.
Shawn Humphrey is a former
contributor to The Flint Journal and an amateur Africanist, focusing his
personal studies on human rights and political issues on the continent.
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