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UN deplores lack of initial investigation in RCA sexual abuse allegations

Xinhua, May 9, 2015 Adjust font size:

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein expressed his "utter disgust and revulsion" on Friday regarding accounts of alleged sex abuse committed against children in the Central African Republic (RCA) by French peacekeeping forces last year.

Thought to have started in December 2013, the alleged crimes continued until June 2014. A preliminary investigation was opened in France last summer following a report leaked to authorities by Anders Kompass, director of field operations for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR).

It was not until this week, however, that a criminal inquiry was officially launched by French prosecutors.

"How is it that there was no investigation carried out by the French military at the time?" asked the High Commissioner, who said he firmly believed that someone within the military hierarchy had kept silent while the abuses took place.

"These crimes represent the cruelest betrayal of trust from peacekeepers whose objective is to offer hope and protection to the population," he added.

He also warned that these events must not eclipse the fact that the French intervention in the war-torn republic was fundamental in preventing what could have developed into a genocide.

In his experience, Al Hussein said that weak command at the local level often results in a failure to relay breaches of conduct to necessary authorities.

He also added that there could be more to the current story than abuses of a sexual nature.

Kompass was suspended from his UN duties in April but a UN tribunal ordered the reinstatement of the Swedish official earlier this week. Endit