Human rights advocates and politicians in Central African Republic claim soldiers who disappeared after being detained last month were kidnapped by mercenaries backed by Russia. The Kremlin has in recent years deepened ties with the gold- and diamond-rich country’s military and government.
Celestin Bakoyo and Elie Ngouengue — two soldiers who led a Wagner Group- aligned militia fighting rebels in the country’s southeast — were reportedly detained on Jan. 24 at a police station in the country’s capital.
Ernest Mizedio, a politician from the region, told The Associated Press that the two soldiers were among a group arrested earlier by Russian mercenaries tasked with training militia members and incorporating them into the army.
“We searched without success for where they took them,” he said, noting that supporters had inquired with both law enforcement and Russian security contractors about their whereabouts. “They said they had nothing to offer us and knew nothing of their situation.”
Mizedio, a member of one of Central African Republic’s opposition parties, said there had been marches and protests decrying the arrests in the country’s southeast.
Neither Wagner nor the military responded to AP’s requests for comment on the disappearance. However, a police officer, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said mercenaries were gradually vying for position and replacing officers on the ground in conflict zones.
Before going missing, the two had come to the capital to open new bank accounts to access their earnings after being integrated into the army. The backlash against their disappearance comes as Russia expands its military and economic presence throughout Africa, using mercenaries to quell rebellion and fight extremists.
Joseph Bindoumi, president of Central African Republic’s League for Human Rights, denounced the disappearances, called them kidnappings and said even if the soldiers were accused of crimes, their whereabouts should be known.
“We have the right to know if standard procedures are being followed. We have the right to see people to ensure their well-being and to ensure their parents, advocates and lawyers can visit them,” he said.
Residents in the Obo region have long feared the rebel groups that Russian mercenaries and the soldiers’ militia have fought. But they now feel similar outrage toward the mercenaries.
“We are outraged to understand the Russians’ idea to train the Azande Ani Kpi Gbe militiamen was to control their movement and decapitate them,” said Robert Mboli, an Obo resident, referring to the disappeared soldiers’ militia. “We will demonstrate until they explain what they blame them for.”
Central African Republic was one of the first places the mercenaries became active. Amid years of conflict between government forces and predominantly Muslim rebels, citizens and officials credited the Russian mercenaries with fighting back armed groups who tried to overtake Bangui in 2021.
Yet they’ve been dogged by reports of recklessly disregarding human rights and civilian welfare. A 2023 investigation from the U.S.-based watchdog group The Sentry found that mercenaries train the army on torture tactics and as part of the fight against armed groups opposed to the government had carried out killings, torture and rape.
