Council members “condemned the attacks conducted recently by rebels from the ‘Séléka’ coalition, in particular in Bangassou and the surrounding region, and the threat of a resumption of hostilities,” Ambassador Vitaly Churkin of Russia, which holds the rotating presidency of the Council for this month, said in a statement read out to the media.

“The members of the Security Council also condemned the threats by militias and related movements against civilians and called upon all actors, including the media, to refrain from inciting violence,” he added.

Fighting flared up again in CAR in December 2013 when the Séléka rebel coalition launched a series of attacks. The fighters took control of major towns and were advancing on the capital, Bangui, before agreeing to start peace talks under the auspices of the regional group known as the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS).

A peace agreement was reached on 11 January, resulting in a ceasefire agreement and creating a government of national unity in which opposition figures were given key posts, but the rebels claim the Government is failing to live up to its commitments. The rebels have resumed their attacks, and have overrun a wide swathe of the country’s territory.

“Séléka now controls three–quarters of the country,” Margaret Vogt, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for CAR, told reporters after briefing the Security Council in a closed-door session.

She reported that rebel members of the Government of National Unity decided to withdraw from the Government two days ago and “went back into the bush” and issued an ultimatum, laying down a number of conditions that had to be met without which they would resume fighting.

“The ultimatum ended today and the indication we got was that they were prepared to allow a bit more time for negotiations to take place,” she said, adding that the UN is working very actively with ECCAS, which is the custodian of the 11 January peace agreement.

“As we all know, governments of national unity are extremely difficult to implement,” noted Ms. Vogt. “They’re rife with all sorts of tension and the situation has not been made easier by the fact that we have a rebellion that controls three-quarters of the country.

“We have a government with a military force that is in disarray and we have a regional organization that has very, very generously deployed a force on the ground, but with limited capacity. A lot would now need to depend on persuasion, on mediation, on political facilitation, and this is the report we brought to the Council.”

In a news statement, Council members reiterated their call to the Government, the Séléka coalition, armed groups and the democratic opposition to abide in good faith by their commitments pursuant to the various agreements they have concluded.

Ms. Vogt stressed that of vital importance is the impact of all of these developments on the people, adding that there are a lot of human rights violations, assaults on the population, looting, sexual exploitation, and recruitment of children. “At the best of times, the record in the CAR was not good but it is exponentially worse,” she said.

What makes the situation even more complex, she added, is that Séléka has now moved to the south-west of the country, where the Ugandan rebel group known as the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) is operating.

“So you have people who suffer from the LRA attacks, and [are] now again being exposed to atrocities committed by the rebellion. It’s just too much.”

The Council voted unanimously on Thursday to approve an African-led force with “use all necessary measures” at its disposal to take back the country’s north from “terrorist, extremist and armed groups”.

“An international armed intervention is likely to increase the scale of human rights violations we are already seeing in this conflict,” said Salvatore Saguès, Amnesty International’s researcher on West Africa.

Civilians in the north are already suffering under the rule of the armed Islamist groups that have controlled the region since April 2012.

Amnesty International fears that during the intervention, indiscriminate attacks, arbitrary detentions, torture, extrajudicial executions, and the use of child soldiers by both sides, could become even more widespread.

In order to prevent a new surge in abuses, Amnesty International is calling on the UN to ensure that any military force is bound by effective safeguards for civilian protection. Human rights monitors must be sent to observe the conflict closely, with particular attention given to government-supported militias.

“The United Nations has to ensure that any intervention force fully complies with international humanitarian and human rights law, and prioritises the protection of civilians caught in the conflict,” said Salvatore Saguès.

“The African armed forces that could take part in this intervention should not have been involved in human rights abuses against their own population.”

Since April 2012 Islamist groups in Mali’s north have imposed a reign of terror, introducing punishments such as amputations, flogging, and stoning to death for those who oppose their interpretation of Islam.

At the beginning of the conflict, the Malian security forces responded to the uprising by bombing Tuareg civilians, and arresting, torturing and killing Tuareg people apparently only on ethnic grounds. Military intervention risks triggering further ethnic conflict in a country already riven by attacks on Tuareg and other lighter-skinned people.

The Malian army is currently dominated by the military junta which overthrew the democratically elected President Amadou Toumani Touré in March 2012, and is still heavily influential in political life.

Malian soldiers have been responsible for extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances and torture. For example, a group of 16 Muslim preachers comprised of Malian and Mauritanian nationals were arrested and then executed by the Malian military in September 2012, in Diabaly (400 km northeast of Bamako).

“The Malian soldiers have benefited from total impunity. We fear their participation in an armed intervention in the North might lead to further violations against a background of retaliation and revenge”, said Salvatore Saguès.

Amnesty International is also urging the UN to prepare for a deepening refugee crisis. The conflict has already displaced up to 400,000 people, resulting in a flood of refugees to neighbouring countries poorly prepared to protect them, including countries suffering humanitarian crises due to region-wide food shortages.

The new central government urged the army to impose its authority by putting its own officers at the head of armed brigades that sprang up during the 2011 uprising against Muammar Gaddafi’s rule, AFP reports.

The announcement was made by Mohammed al-Megarief, the head of the Libyan national assembly, late on Saturday during a press conference.

The authorities also decided to put in place an “operations room” in Benghazi bringing together the army, forces of the interior ministry and defence ministry brigades comprising former rebels.

This move came after a mass protest on Friday against militias in Benghazi that lasted into early Saturday in which thousands stormed the headquarters of Ansar al-Shariah.

The violent takeover of the Benghazi stronghold of Ansar al-Sharia militia by local residents on Friday claimed at least 11 lives and left some 70 wounded, accoridng to Reuters.  Following the events in Benghazi Abu Slim and Ansar al-sharia militias in the city of Derna announced that they will withdraw form their bases.

Ansar al-Sharia group has been linked to the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi last week in which the US ambassador to Libya, and three other Americans died amid demonstrations against an anti-Islamic film.  The group denies any involvement in the killing of the US officials.

Libyan authorities have been struggling to assert authority over the militias and other armed groups that brought about Gaddafi’s fall in the 2011 revolt. The widespread proliferation of weapons became one the biggest threats to security in the whole region.

“On Saturday, you will exercise a right that you have been denied for more than four decades, the right to vote, the right to elect a new National Congress – this is a milestone in Libya’s long march toward democracy,” Ban said in a video message. “The United Nations is proud to have assisted in the birth of an independent Libya. We will stand by you as you build a fully free and democratic state,” he added.

Some 2.7 million people in the North African nation have registered to vote for members of the new National Congress, which will be tasked with drafting a new constitution for Libya. More than 3,000 candidates are competing for office, including more than 600 women.

The polls, which were originally slated to be held in late June, will be the first free elections in decades in Libya, where Muammar al-Qadhafi ruled for more than 40 years until a pro-democracy uprising last year – similar to the protests in other countries in the Middle East and North Africa – led to civil war and the end of his regime.

“This is, truly, a moment for national celebration. We all know the road to democracy is long and hard. We share your aspiration for a peaceful and prosperous Libya founded on the principles of justice, human rights, inclusiveness and accountability,” Ban said.

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative and head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), Ian Martin, has previously described the impending polls as “an important step in Libya’s road to recovery and democracy,” and as being one part of a process that requires addressing key issues in the country’s transition such as ensuring public security, promoting human rights, tackling arms proliferation and ensuring border security.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International warned that the country risks repeating the very violations that led to the “17 February revolution” unless the winners of elections make the establishment of the rule of law and respect for human rights their top priority.

In a report titled Libya: rule of law or rule of militias? the organization says that nearly a year after Tripoli fell to the revolutionary fighters ( thuwwar ), ongoing violations – including arbitrary arrests and detention, torture including to death, impunity for unlawful killings and forcible displacement – are casting a shadow over the country’s first national elections since the fall of al-Gaddafi’s regime.

During a visit to Libya in May and June, Amnesty International found that hundreds of armed militias continue to act above the law, many refusing to disarm or join the national army or police force. The Ministry of Interior told the organization that it has been able to dismantle four militias in Tripoli, a tiny proportion of the total number.

“It is deeply depressing that after so many months, the authorities have failed so comprehensively to break the stranglehold of the militias on Libyan security, with dramatic consequences for the people that bear the brunt of their actions,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Deputy Director.

“Calls for an end to repression and injustice were what led to the ‘17 February revolution’ in the first place. Without immediate action to stop abuses and lawlessness, there is a very real danger Libya could end up reproducing and entrenching the same patterns of violations we have seen over the past four decades”.