Local Laws

CRIMINAL PENALTIES: While you are traveling in the CAR, you are subject to its laws. Foreign laws and legal systems can be vastly different from our own. Penalties for breaking the law can be more severe than in the United States for similar offenses. Persons violating Central African Republic laws, even unknowingly, may be expelled, arrested, or imprisoned. Penalties for possession, use, or trafficking in illegal drugs in the CAR are severe, and convicted offenders can expect long jail sentences and heavy fines. Engaging in sexual conduct with children or using or disseminating child pornography in a foreign country is a crime prosecutable in the United States. If you break local laws in the CAR your U.S. passport won’t help you avoid arrest or prosecution.

Based on the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, bilateral agreements with certain countries, and customary international law, if you are arrested in the CAR, you have the option to request that the police, prison officials, or other authorities alert the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate of your arrest, and to have communications from you forwarded to the nearest U.S. embassy in Yaounde, Cameroon, or the French Embassy in Bangui. In some cases, U.S. citizens and other foreign nationals have been detained indefinitely without due process. 

Photography: Taking photographs of police or military installations, airports, or any other government buildings is prohibited. Unauthorized photography may result in the seizure of photographic equipment by the CAR authorities. Police or other government authorities can provide information and grant permission for photographing a particular subject or location. 

Corruption: Corruption remains a serious problem among the CAR security forces, some members of which have harassed travelers for bribes. At night, the roads in the capital are often manned with impromptu checkpoints, at which police or soldiers ask motorists and travelers for money.  

Banking: Banking infrastructure remains limited in the CAR, and facilities for monetary exchange exist only in the capital. Banking services were further limited following looting in Bangui in March and April 2013. There are no ATMs in the CAR. Exchange bureaus and banks normally accept dollars and euros, but not West African Francs (CFA). Credit cards are not used in the CAR, and purchases of goods and services, including hotel rooms and airline tickets, are cash transactions. 

WOMEN TRAVELER INFORMATION: If you are a woman traveling abroad, please review our travel tips for Women Travelers.

LGBT RIGHTS: Same-gender sexual relations are illegal in the CAR and the penal code criminalizes consensual same-gender sexual activity. The penalty for "public expression of love" between persons of the same gender is imprisonment for six months to two years or a fine of between 150,000 to 600,000 CFA francs ($295 to $1,185). When one of the participants is under age, the adult may be sentenced to two to five years' imprisonment or a fine of 100,000 to 800,000 CFA francs ($200 to $1,600).  Although there have been no recent reports that police arrested or detained persons under these provisions, they remain illegal. LGBT travelers should review the LGBT Travel Information page.

ACCESSIBILITY: While in the CAR, individuals with disabilities will find accessibility and accommodation very different from what you find in the United States. Public infrastructure is generally in poor condition and sidewalks, buildings, and public transportation do not cater to special accessibility needs.