ICC Says It's Monitoring Central African Republic Violence

(Bloomberg) -- The International Criminal Court called for an end to a new wave of violence between armed groups in the Central African Republic and warned it would take further action.

“My office is monitoring these developments very closely to assess what further action may be required,” the ICC’s prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, said Tuesday in an emailed statement.

The Central African Republic has been riven by violence since a coalition of mainly Muslim rebels overthrew President Francois Bozize in 2013. The country was the world’s 10th-biggest diamond producer by value in 2012, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

In some instances the violence targeted civilians, peacekeepers and humanitarian workers, Bensouda said, whose office has been investigating crimes committed in the CAR since August 2012.

The ICC has conducted investigations and sought prosecution in cases of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Darfur in Sudan, Kenya, Libya, Ivory Coast, Mali and Georgia.

It is also conducting examinations in Afghanistan, Colombia, Guinea, the U.K.’s involvement in Iraq, Palestine, Nigeria, Ukraine, Burundi and Gabon.

To contact the reporter on this story: Eric Ombok in Nairobi at eombok@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Christopher Kingdon at ckingdon@bloomberg.net, Helen Nyambura-Mwaura