The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) said today that it is determined to investigate fully all allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse by its forces in the country and to hold to account perpetrators of such acts.
Advertisement
Wednesday, United Nations Spokesperson Vannina Maestracci said headquarters had received new “disturbing” allegations of misconduct that happened in “recent weeks” in the central town of Bambari.
Maestracci declined to name the nationality of the accused troops, but sources said they were from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The UN mission in the country has nearly 8,000 military personnel, contributed by more than 30 nations, according to its website. UN peacekeeping forces have long had a presence on the continent – particularly sub-Saharan regions – to provide aid and prevent exactly the type of activity the troops are accused of participating in.
In September of last year, the mission officially took over peacekeeping duties, and absorbed numerous African contingents that were already in the country as part of an African Union mission.
Ban on August. 12 said he forced the peacekeeping chief in the Central African Republic to quit over the mission’s response to allegations of sexual violence and misconduct against its soldiers. In July, six peacekeepers were repatriated for excessive use of force against detainees. “It is unforgivable that the reputation of global peacekeepers and the UN itself are put at risk by the incompetence at the centre”.
In the DRC, peacekeepers were said to have offered abandoned orphans small gifts – as little as two eggs from their rations, says the report – for sexual encounters.
In at least one case of alleged sexual abuse or exploitation by a peacekeeper in vehicle, a country repatriated its accused citizen, the UN said.
Earlier this month, a United Nations police officer was accused of sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl in the capital, Bangui. The handling of those allegations remain a point of contention, and led Ban to establish an independent review panel tasked with evaluating those allegations and the response of UN human rights officials in similar incidents. The peacekeepers were carrying out an operation in the PK5 neighborhood, one of the few remaining Muslim residential areas. The next day, peacekeepers returned and shot residents, seemingly at random, leaving a father and his young son dead. The council’s stance followed a “zero tolerance” policy mandated by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
“Going forward, you may wish to consider that there could be a systemic problem”, wrote Gaye.
Advertisement
Justice Minister Alexis Thambwe acknowledged that the peacekeepers in question were Congolese and said national authorities would soon receive a dossier with evidence collected by United Nations investigators.
