Crisis in the Central African Republic

Today's hearing is not being called an emergency hearing, but it could very well be, because since we first decided to hold a hearing to spotlight the human rights situation in the Central African Republic, the situation has deteriorated even further, so that today the country is on the verge of a humanitarian catastrophe. Coups and dictatorships have characterized the Central African Republic since its independence in 1960, but the current crisis is far more dangerous than what has come before. Consider this, in a country of approximately 5 million people, roughly 1.1 million citizens face serious food insecurity. Some 460,000 CAR nationals are displaced, including 64,000 who have fled to neighboring countries as refugees and nearly 400,000 who are internally displaced. This is because there has been a complete breakdown of law and order in the country following the ouster of President Francois Bozize in March of 2013.