UN confirms 13 alleged cases of sexual abuse in CAR, some victims as young as 11

The top UN official in the Central African Republic (CAR) said on Thursday that there have been 13 alleged cases of sexual abuse in the past year with the youngest victim only 11 years old.

Diane Corner, deputy special representative of the UN secretary-general for the CAR and the acting head of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), made the statement in a teleconference with reporters here at UN Headquarters.

"We have recorded 13 cases of sexual abuse allegedly involving uniformed personnel of MINUSCA since ... Sept. 15, 2014," she said. "Of these cases, nine involved alleged attacks on minors."

The youngest was 11, Corner said, adding there have been, "no convictions, so far."

"I cannot share all the details about the cases, primarily to protect the identities of the victims," she said.

"The sharp rise in the cases in the last three months is of concern," Corner said.

"Some of cases were reported to the mission by local journalists, by local NGOs and in some cases by the families involved," Corner said. "This shows a certain level of trust on the part of the population."

"We are seeking to do all that we can to build a level of trust with Central Africans by providing an account of our actions," said Corner, who was named acting head of the mission after Babacar Gaye, a special representative of the secretary general in CAR, resigned.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he requested the resignation Aug. 12 following the latest spate of accusations of sex abuse cases.

"Our response to these reports has been to establish quickly whether allegations are credible and then to ... know the welfare of the victims," she said. "Through our partners we provide medical and psycho-social care and in parallel we report to New York as we need to get in place the parallel track of punishing the perpetrators."

"In cases involving our troops it is the responsibility of the troop contributing countries (TCCs) to investigate," and punish the guilty, she said. "That said, at mission level we have to act quickly to preserve the evidence which provides the basis for convictions and the punishment to the perpetrators."

Not only is it the responsibility of the country involved to investigate, but also to bring charges and punish the guilty. But UN missions do not identify the TCC involved. It is also possible the alleged abuser may be repatriated and not punished.

However, it is sometimes possible to determine which nation's troops were operating in a particular area when there is an allegation of sexual abuse.

Corner did say that TCCs were expected to investigate allegations of sexual abuse and respond within 10 days to the mission, despite "difficult, sometimes dangerous" circumstances. If it doesn't respond then MINUSCA will investigate, she said.

"It is damaging to the United Nations if (cases are) not investigated immediately," she said, adding, "We also devote significant efforts in terms of preventing cases of sexual abuse."

MINUSCA is authorized through a UN Security Council resolution (2149 of 2014) at 10,000 military personnel, from more than 40 countries, and 2,120 police officers from about 20 nations, plus 462 international civilian personnel and 219 local civilians.

The enabling resolution mandated the world organization take over from the African Union and the French, the role of trying to stabilize the country wracked by sectarian violence, between mainly Muslim Seleka rebels and "anti-balaka" mainly Christian militias.

Since violence broke out in 2013, more than 6,000 people have been killed, more than a quarter of the population of about 4.5 million people has been displaced. Enditem