- Wagner Group accused of war crimes and atrocities in Central African Republic
- Extensive training in violent techniques and control over CAR’s political and military leadership
- Wagner’s operations in Africa and calls for global action against the mercenary group
The mercenary group was accused of atrocities in Africa before the Ukraine war and its failed march on Moscow.
A new investigation found that the Wagner Group committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in CAR.
After a disagreement with the Russian military over the fight, the organisation looked to have turned on the Kremlin. Previously, the group had led Russian attacks in parts of Ukraine.
The Sentry, a Washington-based anti-corruption organization, has discovered that Yevgeny Prigozhin’s mercenary group has been “perfecting a nightmare plan for state capture” in the Central African Republic to pillage the country’s national resources, especially gold, and diamonds.
Over the past five years, soldiers and militiamen are said to have received Wagner training in “ultraviolent” torture and killing techniques, such as how to cut fingers and legs, remove nails, strangle, hurl fuel, and burn people alive.
The Wagner Group and CAR President Faustin-Archange Touadéra control the country’s military, economics, and politics.
The report also discovered that Wagner’s training included “sweeping” or “cleansing,” which, according to military sources in Central Africa, meant killing everyone, including women and children.
A military source explained, “We only execute villagers, bury them, or toss them into the bush.”
A member of the presidential guard discussing the training he received stated, “The training was provided by a Russian instructor… Included were commando training, interrogation, aggressive techniques, torture, and violence.”
According to the report, the training can last between one and six months and includes firearms training, hand-to-hand combat, and espionage, interrogation, and torture techniques.
Wagner has constructed a transnational network of shadowy companies and operations stretching from Madagascar, Cameroon, and Sudan back to Moscow, capitalizing on President Touadera’s ever-increasing need for security and protection.
Wagner commanders and President Touadéra said the force was hunting armed rebel groups to safeguard the regime. However, The Sentry has discovered that Wagner has assumed command of the government armed forces.
It has then ordered them to execute “cleansing” campaigns to exterminate entire communities that could impede the group’s extraction efforts.
According to soldiers involved in these operations, Wagner’s goal is to instill dread and terror not only among rebels. But also among the general populace and the soldiers and militiamen under its command.
The UN and West ignored decades of catastrophic Central African Republic disasters until the gang surfaced in early 2018.
Wagner used this to quickly become one of the CAR’s most powerful forces with little troops.
Its activities in the Central African Republic are only one facet of the private army’s operations in Africa. Which encompass numerous countries including Libya, Sudan, Mali, Mozambique, Madagascar, and Burkina Faso.
Additionally, they are known to have a substantial presence in Syria.
According to the report, Wagner-affiliated mining companies, predominantly Lobaye Invest, Midas Ressources, and Danville, have been granted mining licenses and export authorizations, enabling the group to utilize its transnational networks across Africa to assist in the establishment of industrial-scale gold production.
In addition, it is believed that Russia supplied heavy military equipment that had not previously been seen in the CAR conflict, such as combat helicopters, aircraft, ground vehicles, reconnaissance drones, and heavy weaponry, such as 14.5 mm heavy machine guns.
Even further, the report alleges that Wagner utilized munitions in CAR.
Since the implementation of the arms embargo in 2013, the UN Panel of Experts on the Central African Republic has observed “unprecedented deliveries of material to support state security forces.”
Senior Investigator and Head of the Wagner Programme at The Sentry, Nathalia Dukhan, stated, “The Central African Republic has become Wagner Group’s terror laboratory.
“With a limited number of military personnel and the active support of President Touadéra, Wagner was able to infiltrate and control CAR’s military chain of command, as well as its political and economic institutions, in just five years.
“Russia has unveiled its strategy for psychological warfare and dominance – a truly novel form of ultraviolent colonialism.”
“Without urgent and coordinated global action to counter this threat. Wagner’s predatory terrorist network will continue to spread and sow devastation wherever it takes root.”
The report urges the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Canada, Japan, and other nations. And jurisdictions to expand the scope of sanctions against Wagner and designate it as a terrorist organization.
