Rights group: Russians tortured people in C.African Republic

By CARLEY PETESCH
Associated Press

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Human Rights Watch has accused Russian mercenaries of executing, torturing and beating civilians in Central African Republic since 2019. Dozens of witnesses who spoke to the international rights organization outlined incidents of violence, including in July 2021 when Russian-speaking men carrying military-grade weapons set up a roadblock near the town of Bossangoa, stopped men to beat them and shot at least eight dead. The accusations by the international rights group come after United Nations experts in October called on the government in Central African Republic to end all relationships with the private military company. France and the United States also accused Wagner “mercenaries” of massacres and executions of civilians in January.