Operation Caban
| 1979 Central African coup d'état | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 House of Bokassa Armed Forces loyalists |
Armed Forces rebels France | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Bokassa I |
David Dacko Valéry Giscard d'Estaing | ||||||
Operation Caban was a bloodless military operation that was launched by France in September 1979, to reinstate the exiled former president, David Dacko, and restore the Central African Empire to the Central African Republic by deposing Emperor Bokassa I.[1][2][3]
History
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By January 1979, Bokassa had become such an autocratic ruler that he passed an injunction that all students of high schools should wear a uniform made in his factory. This led to an agitation by the students in Bangui. Bokassa called in the Central African Armed Forces to put down the agitation. In April 1979, Bokassa ordered the arrest of young students—including adolescents and children—who threw rocks at his car and put them behind bars. In the following two days, about 100 children were brutally killed and the incident became known as the "children's massacre at Bangui."
A panel of judges convened and proposed to arrest Bokassa and put him on trial. Bokassa then fled to Libya, seeking Muammar Gaddafi's assistance. The French reacted and soon launched Operation Barracuda to overthrow Bokassa and install David Dacko as president, who was then in exile in Europe. They brought back Dacko with support of French troops who were moved from Gabon and Chad. The coup was successful; Dacko returned to the office of president after a 13-year absence, and restored the Central African Republic (CAR). Bokassa had fled to France.[1]
Bokassa eventually returned to the CAR in 1987, where he was immediately arrested, put on trial, and sentenced to death. His sentence was commuted to life in prison a year later. As one of his last acts in office, President André Kolingba granted a general amnesty for all prisoners, including Bokassa, in 1993. Bokassa died three years later.[1]
This operation was known as Operation Caban and the military operation by the French to move four paratrooper units of Troupes de marine, which were given the Squadron name Barracudas and four helicopter, was Operation Barracuda. Operation Barracuda was completed on 29 September 1979 in just a few hours. This operation did not bring any accolades to France. While many in CAR supported the coup, many in France including President Giscard were criticised for their handling of the Bokassa situation.[2][4]
Footnotes
- ^ a b c Matt Doeden (2009). Central African Republic in Pictures. Twenty-First Century Books. pp. 29–. ISBN 9781575059525. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
- ^ a b "The Bradshaw's Archives - Central African Republic / Ubangi-Shari". France's Relations With Africa. The Bradshaw's Archives: Ono.com. 4 April 2010. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
- ^ Bokassa,Jean-Barthélémy. Saga Bokassa (in French). SODEPAR SAS. pp. 145–. ISBN 9782358080712. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
- ^ Alain Rouvez (1 January 1994). Disconsolate Empires: French, British and Belgian Military Involvement in Post-Colonial Sub-Saharan Africa. University Press of America. pp. 172–174. ISBN 9780819196439. Retrieved 25 July 2013.