UN sends home Ghanaian peacekeepers accused of sexual abuse in South Sudan

JUBA, June 1 (Xinhua) -- The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) said it has repatriated a group of Ghanaian peacekeepers involved in a sexual exploitation scandal in South Sudan in February.

The contingent of 46 police officers was repatriated to Ghana on Wednesday, UNMISS told Xinhua in a statement Thursday evening.

UNMISS withdrew the 46-member Ghanaian Formed Police Unit (FPU) from their duty station inside a UN Protection of Civilians (PoC) site in the north-western South Sudanese town of Wau on Feb. 8, and confined to their base in the capital, Juba after a complaint of sexual misconduct was made.

The UN mission said investigations conducted by the Office of Internal Oversight Services, an independent office within the UN established that some members of the FPU were in fact involved in transactional sex with women under their protection.

UNMISS added that it is following up with the Ghanaian authorities to ensure that disciplinary or criminal actions are taken against the perpetrators.

"The UN has a zero tolerance, no excuses, and no second chances approach to sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA)," the UNMISS said.

"In line with existing rules, the report will be shared with the Government of Ghana which is also conducting its own national investigation into the allegations and has pledged to take disciplinary and/or criminal action for substantiated acts," it added.

UNMISS has some 17,000 peacekeeping personnel, including 13,000 soldiers and 1,500 police, who carry out the mission's mandate to build peace and protect civilians in South Sudan.

"Its priority is to put victims' rights and dignity first and ensure provision of victim assistance services, as well as transparency and accountability," UNMISS said. Enditem