The United Nations mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) has stated that it has not received a new mandate to trade ivory or support the Union for Peace in the Central African Republic (UPC). The Central African government also confirms that MINUSCA’s mandate does not involve wildlife management.
Since the beginning of November, two posts have emerged on Facebook alleging that MINUSCA is involved in the extermination and trade of ivory and that it supports the UPC dissident groups. These posts claim, “MINUSCA changes its mandate to support UPC elements” and “MINUSCA changes its mandate from peacekeeping to exterminating elephants and trading ivory.” However, these allegations are false and baseless.
To separate fact from fiction, our editorial team interviewed Vladimir Monteiro, the spokesperson for MINUSCA, regarding these claims: “This is false! MINUSCA has never supported armed groups. On the contrary, it is the first on the ground to oppose and combat the threat of armed groups against civilians.” He further explained, “MINUSCA is not involved in the trade of ivory mentioned in the publication, as that is not part of its mandate.”
Dr. Serge Ghislain Djorie, Minister of Communication and Media and government spokesperson, also clarified over the phone: “MINUSCA’s mandate does not allow it to intervene in wildlife matters. So, this is false. However, it should be noted that a security oversight commission has been established across the entire territory. If there are any incidents, such as contact with rebel groups, this committee will report them to the appropriate institutions.”
“The mandates of UN missions do not allow for cooperation with non-conventional forces.”
After reviewing the previous mandate and Resolution 2552 related to MINUSCA’s renewed mandate on September 16, 2021, it is clear that no provision allows for the mission’s involvement in the two aforementioned activities. Instead, the focus is on implementing paragraph 31, with tasks prioritized as outlined in paragraphs 34 to 36.
Therefore, after thorough verification, the AFC editorial team has found the claims circulating on social media to be misleading.
AFC Fact-checking Editorial Team
This project is supported by #FreePressUnlimited and the #EuropeanUnion as part of #covid19responseinafrica.
Do you find information or images suspicious? Contact our editorial team at 00236 74 02 15 70 / 75 81 61 38 / 75 38 11 73, or email us at [email protected].
