In 2013, the Central African Republic was plunged into a conflict that has cost over 5,000 lives and displaced more than a million people. When the insurgent group Seleka seized power in a bloody coup d’état, Seleka rebels were dispatched to the country’s rainforests. Here they struck lucrative deals with logging companies that helped bankroll a fierce campaign of violence against the country’s population. The NGO Global Witness carried out an investigation which revealed how these logging companies have paid millions of euros into the hands of rebels guilty of mass murder, kidnappings, rapes and the forced recruitment of child soldiers. Urgent action is required to cut trade and aid ties to Central African Republic’s logging companies that have paid millions to militia guilty of mass murder and war crimes.See further (in English and French):
https://www.globalwitness.org/reports/bloodtimber/
https://www.globalwitness.org/reports/bloodtimber/
