Roundup: New cases of alleged sexual abuse reported against UN peacekeepers in Central African Republic

The United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) on Thursday reported that it has identified seven new possible victims of sexual exploitation and abuse in the town of Bambari, a UN spokesman told reporters here.

The news came just days after the UN revealed which countries' troops have been accused of abusing minors.

"The soldiers implicated in these cases are from the Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo," Farhan Haq, the deputy UN spokesman, said at a daily news briefing here.

"The governments of the two countries have been notified and asked to launch investigations. The Central African Republic national authorities have also been informed."

"Due to the gravity of these allegations and given the information collected through the initial fact-finding, the United Nations has decided to take immediate measures, including the repatriation of the 120 soldiers from the Republic of Congo who were deployed to Bambari from 17 September to 14 December 2015," Haq said.

"This repatriation will occur after an investigation is carried out; in the meantime the soldiers will be confined to barracks."

"These cases were brought to the (UN) Mission's attention on 21 January by a team of Human Rights Watch researchers, who passed this information to the Mission in the interest of ensuring medical and psycho-social care for the victims and accountability for any alleged crimes," he said.

MINUSCA dispatched a fact-finding expert from the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) to Bambari, he said. "OIOS found sufficient initial evidence that five of the victims were minors and had been sexually abused and that one adult had been sexually exploited. OIOS was unable to interview the seventh alleged victim, reportedly a minor."

"Finally, one of the allegations passed to the Mission by Human Rights Watch was previously reported and is currently under investigation," Haq said.

Earlier Thursday, the UN secretary-general's special representative for Central African Republic, Parfait Onanga-Anyanga, travelled to Bambari with a high level delegation, Haq said. "He expressed his outrage and shame, discussed the sexual exploitation and abuse incidents with affected communities and recommended additional emergency mitigation measures."

Meanwhile, Onanga-Anyanga also discussed the sexual exploitation and abuse incidents with affected communities and recommended additional emergency mitigation measures.

Addressing the Democratic Republic of Congo battalion in the final weeks before its repatriation, MINUSCA's Force Commander Major General Balla Keita urged the soldiers to "honour themselves, their country, and the UN flag by serving with the highest standards of conduct and dignity."

Speaking with the press at the end of the visit, Onanga-Anyanga said that MINUSCA is "in combat mode" and explained that "he will not rest until these heinous acts are uncovered, perpetrators are punished, and incidents cease."

He also thanked all partners for the important role they are playing in reporting allegations and caring for victims, adding "we will never win this fight unless we work together."

In the spring of 2014, allegations came to light that international troops serving as peacekeepers had sexually abused a number of young children in exchange for food or money.

The alleged perpetrators were largely from a French military force known as Sangaris, which was operating under authorization of the Security Council but not under UN command.

The nearly 11,000-strong MINUSCA was set up in 2014 after fighting between the mainly Muslim Seleka and mainly Christian anti-Balaka groups erupted in early 2013, killing thousands of people and driving hundreds of thousands more from their homes.

The mission played a major role in providing security last month for the first round of presidential and legislative elections.

The new allegations came in early January after what the United Nations has confirmed to be 63 allegations of misconduct at the UN Mission since it began operations last year, with the UN under-secretary-general for peacekeeping operations, Herve Ladsous, reporting after a four-day visit to CAR in September that out of these 63 allegations, "15 relate to possible sexual exploitation and abuse. ... Most of those cases are under investigation."

The Central Africa Republic has been rocked by violence since a mainly Muslim rebellion in 2013. MINUSCA was set up in 2014 to help bring peace in the country after a breakdown of governmental authority and vicious intercommunal fighting. Enditem