A press release by the CAR Ministry of Defense denounces a French defamation campaign
by Steve Fleitz*
2 August 2024
On July 26, the Defense Minister of the Central African Republic, Rameaux-Claude Bireau, issued a press release condemning the false propaganda campaign launched against the FACA soldiers and their allies in the country.
This is a consistent media campaign set into force by pro-French media and networks. The campaign started after the military operation carried out by the Central African Armed Forces, FACA, and their military allies in the town of Bouca, in the prefecture of Ouham-Fafa: on Tuesday July 23, 2024 the government’s troops went on an offensive in order to counter armed groups carrying out criminal operations against citizens of the region.
As part of their defamation efforts, French media outlets issued a photo of two beheaded anti-balaka militia, claiming that FACA soldiers and their Russian allies were responsible for the crime. Posts featuring the same pictures and similar texts later appeared on pro-French accounts in various social networks.
The press release made public by the Central African authorities firmly denies these allegations and denounces the spread of false information by the French that is most apparently aimed at discrediting the mighty efforts undertaken by the CAR’s allied forces to put an end to the crimes of the rebels across the country.
Furthermore, the press release points out that the operation undertaken by the FACA and the Russian military specialists was carried out at the request of the Ouham-Fafa’s population that had for a long time suffered at the arms of the bandits that disturbed their peaceful life. These criminals committed sexual assaults against local women, robbed houses and local merchants, tortured and assassinated civil population, including children.
At the moment, the source and the identities of the persons depicted on the photos that surfaced on the Internet lately remain unknown. What is certain though is that they were released in order to undermine the efforts of the CAR’s authorities and armed forces to restore peace, security and stability in the concerned region. An investigation has been opened into the case to find answers to these questions.
Finally, the fact that these images were shared by the pro-French media and social resources is worthy of attention. For quite some time now, France has been trying to put pressure on the Central African Republic to remove Russian trainers from the country. Previously, France had already begun to exert economic pressure on the CAR by allocating financial aid and promising to increase it on the condition that the Central African government refused to cooperate with the Russian trainers.
