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Central African Republic: a UN official suspended for having leaked a report accusing French soldiers of rape, according to the "Guardian"
Because of "UN failure" to respond to these sexual abuses, the aid worker would have referred the case to the authorities. And it is particularly explosive. According to this, children-including one aged nine years- have suffered sexual abuse at the hands of French soldiers between December 2013 and June 2014. Just after the revelations of the Guardian , the Ministry of Justice confirmed that the floor of Paris opened in July a preliminary investigation into sexual abuse in Central Africa by French soldiers.These investigations were launched after transmission to the Paris prosecutor by the Ministry of Defence of a United Nations working paper, AFP said.
Sexual acts against food
The events occurred in the M'Poko camp at Bangui airport, the country's capital.Reportedly the Guardian was able to consult, boys accusing French soldiers of abusing them sexually in exchange for money or food. It was after rumors that the survey was commissioned by the Office of the UN High Commission for Human Rights.
On 5 December 2013, France launched the operation "Sangaris" to help the Central African Republic to maintain peace in the country in the grip of a civil war between the Christian and Muslim communities. The French army was then sent 2,000 men there. The soldiers involved in the report were particularly deployed in the UN force Minsuca, says the Guardian .
Contacted by HuffPost's , the Ministry of Defense did not comment these claims at first. In a press release, he then announced that would apply the "strongest sanctions" if the sexual abuse of French soldiers "had proved". In addition, "the Minister of Defence has taken and will take all necessary measures to enable the establishment of the truth", the statement pointing a possible "intolerable attack on the values of the soldier."
On Thursday morning, 30 April, the Secretary of State in charge of Family, Laurence Rossignol, felt that these soldiers had committed "a double crime," if the child rape charges against them were based. "If the facts are true, these facts would be extremely serious," said Laurence Rossignol on Radio Classique and LCI. For his part, Finance Minister Michel Sapin said on Europe 1 that "if the facts are proven, sanctions will be of great severity."
Swedish national, Anders Kompass lives in Geneva and was (until his suspension occurred last week) Director of field operations of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Photo below: