France is set to send an additional 1,000 troops to the Central African Republic [1] to prevent an escalation of the conflict in the region [2]. So it came as a bit of a surprise when France decided to replace its ambassador Serge Mucetti [3] in the country on the eve of such an important military mission. Philippe Bolopion [4], the United Nations director at Human Rights Watch, asserts that the Central African Republic is on the cusp of a potential genocide if the international community does not intervene. He writes [5] :
A conflict that had more to do with predation and power than with religion took an ugly, sectarian turn in September, when Christian militias known as “anti-balaka” (“anti-machete”) started attacking Muslim communities, slitting the throats of women and children and at times announcing that they wanted to exterminate all the Muslims.