Contact Admin. We travel out of the Central African capital, Bangui, at first light. Even at six in the morning it feels like we are sitting in a sauna. A UN car was carjacked a day earlier, so we are not taking any chances. We ask the rebel group Seleka to provide us with a military escort, which consists of two colonels travelling in one of our vehicles.
We also have an official-looking letter from the ministry of defence, which will hopefully get us through any checkpoints and into the military base of Bossembele. Also making the journey with us is Amadou Tidjiani, a young man who was imprisoned at Bossembele for 19 months. The trip is remarkably quick. The km stretch of road is tarmacked all the way to Bossembele. Although our car has a flat tyre at one point, we are able to fix it quickly and get back on the road.
I had first heard of Bossembele prison when I reported from the January peace talks in Libreville. On March 22, two days before the fall of the Bangui, rebels swept into Bossembele, and according to local reports, they captured the garrison town relatively easily.
We reach the gates of Bossembele military base at around midday, and wait in the car as our fixer and security adviser negotiate with the Seleka colonel now in charge of the base. We finally get the green light to enter, but are informed that we only have 35 minutes on the ground. I ask Amadou to take me straight to the cell where he was imprisoned.
It looks more like a small warehouse than an actual prison cell, with high ceilings and a metal-grill door. It is suffocating and very dark. We have to bring a light panel with us, and we can hear rats scratching near the wall. I ask Amadou how it feels being back. Login Signup. Signup Login Contact Admin. Cosima 25 Bossembele. Photo verified. Nunziatella 24 Africa.
