I. Introduction
1 . The present report is submitted pursuant to the request contained in the statement of the President of the Security Council dated 19 December 2012 (S/PRST/2012/28), in which the Security Council requested me to keep it informed on the activities of the United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA) and the progress in the implementation of the United Nations regional strategy to address the threat and impact of the activities of the Lord’s Resistance Army (S/2012/481). The report assesses the major political trends in the Central African subregion since my last report (S/2012/923), dated 13 December 2012, provides an update on progress in implementing the mandate of UNOCA, and reports on ongoing efforts to counter the threat and impact of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).
II. Major developments in the Central African subregion
A. Political, peace and security developments
2 . During the reporting period, following its withdrawal from the ceasefire agreement signed in Libreville on 11 January 2013, the Séléka launched a new military offensive against the Government in the Central African Republic resulting in the unconstitutional removal of President François Bozizé on 24 March 2013. The Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) has taken the lead in addressing the crisis. It has organized four extraordinary summits of Heads of State and Government dedicated to the situation in the Central African Republic. ECCAS also appointed a Mediator, President Denis Sassou-Nguesso of the Republic of the Congo. Meanwhile, the African Union Peace and Security Council has also closely followed the situation in the Central African Republic. It decided on 25 March to suspend the country from all African Union activities and to impose an asset freeze and travel ban on the Séléka leadership. The Peace and Security Council has subsequently met three times to discuss the situation in the Central African Republic. The African Union and the ECCAS Mediator co-chair the International Contact Group on the Central African Republic, which held its inaugural meeting in Brazzaville, on 3 May 2013.
3 . The ongoing political, security, human rights and humanitarian crises in the country have had a significant impact on the Central African subregion. Notably, there has been an increase in the number of refugees from the Central African Republic into neighbouring countries, and the numbers continue to rise. As at 3 May 2013, more than 49,000 Central African refugees had fled to neighbouring countries, primarily Cameroon, Chad, the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Since December 2012, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has registered 35,540 new refugees from the Central African Republic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 6,728 refugees in Chad, 1,024 in Cameroon, and 400 in the Congo. The plight of Central African refugees prompted the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres, to visit the region on 12 April 2013, with a particular focus on the refugees located in the northern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
4 . There has also been an increase in the availability and circulation of weapons in the subregion, including in areas hosting Central African refugees. For example, on 13 April 2013, Cameroonian security elements recovered a large stock of weapons, uniforms and ammunition in Garoua Boulaye, a small town on the border between Cameroon and the Central African Republic where about a thousand Central African refugees were accommodated.
5 . Furthermore, the crisis in the Central African Republic has had repercussions on efforts to address the threat and impact of the activities of LRA. The precarious security situation in the Central African Republic led the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF), who are part of the African Union Regional Task Force against the Lord’s Resistance Army, to temporarily suspend their operations in the Central African Republic. However, at a meeting with my Special Representative in April, the Ugandan authorities assured that its forces in the Central African Republic would continue their efforts to eliminate the threat of LRA (see section IV).
6 . Meanwhile, the security situation in the Sahel continued to be of concern for Central Africa. The Community of Sahelo-Saharan States (CEN-SAD) held an extraordinary summit to discuss the security situation in the Sahel on 16 February, in N’Djamena. At the meeting it was decided to create two organs within CEN-SAD: the permanent council for sustainable development in the fight against poverty, and a permanent security council to help rid the region of terrorists and other threats to peace.
7 . The spread of cross-border criminal activities in the subregion including poaching, mainly targeting elephants, is another growing security concern in Central Africa. During the period under review, it emerged that Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad and Gabon in particular are facing this problem.