Sangaris soldiers and five soldiers of the African-led International Support Mission to the Central African Republic (MISCA), AU troops, and peacekeepers, were allegedly involved. The Prosecutor’s decision was that the victims’ testimonies did not sufficiently establish the facts. REFUGEES AND INTERNALLY DISPLACED PEOPLE The number of people seeking refuge in neighbouring countries increased due to an escalation of violence in April and May. By the end of the year, at least 538,000 people had fled the country for neighbouring countries Chad, Cameroon, DRC and Republic of the Congo; while 601,000 were internally displaced, living in poor conditions in makeshift camps with inadequate access to food, water, health care and sanitation. IMPUNITY Many suspected perpetrators of human rights abuses and violations, including armed groups and security forces, were not investigated or tried. Impunity was exacerbated by the collapse of the national justice system and its slow reconstruction. On 26 February, MINUSCA arrested six FPRC and MPC members. Central African authorities detained them from 1 March and opened investigations. Suspects had not been brought to trial by the end of the year. Between November and December, eight Anti-balaka members were sentenced in four cases, in a court in the western town of Bouar, to up to 20 years’ imprisonment for crimes including criminal association, unlawful possession of homemade arms, murder and theft. Others were sentenced in their absence. The Central African authorities failed to implement an asset freeze which was extended by the UN Security Council on 27 January until 31 January 2018 along with an arms embargo and travel ban. Several listed individuals continued to collect their state salaries. Between April and December, the US imposed financial sanctions including against 120 Abdoulaye Hissène, a leading FPRC member, and Maxime Mokom, an Anti-balaka leader. In June, Chad announced that it had frozen Abdoulaye Hissène’s assets and banned him from crossing the Chadian borders. INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE Progress was made in operationalizing the Special Criminal Court (SCC) which will try individuals suspected of serious human rights violations and crimes under international law committed since 2003. The SCC Special Prosecutor took office in May after which five national magistrates and two international magistrates were nominated, and a committee to select judicial police officers was created. The ICC investigations on the “Central African Republic II situation” continued but no arrest warrants were issued. In March, the ICC increased Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo’s 18-year prison sentence to 19 years after he and his legal team were convicted of attempting to bribe witnesses in 2016. NATURAL RESOURCES On 20 July, the General Court of the European Union upheld the asset freeze against the Belgium-based diamond companies BADICA and KARDIAM, which had procured diamonds from the Central African Republic despite a ban. RIGHT TO AN ADEQUATE STANDARD OF LIVING The UN reported that nearly half the population (2.4 million) needed humanitarian assistance, and 1.4 million were food insecure. The health system collapsed due to the conflict and the population depended almost entirely on humanitarian organizations for basic services. Escalating violence led humanitarian organizations to temporarily withdraw staff from cities and villages. The UN said that about a third of the population had access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation facilities. Amnesty International Report 2017/18