The United Nations has denied having tried to bury confidential report on alleged sexual abuses by French troops in Central African Republic.
This follows accusations from several non-governmental organizations.
Several NGO’s slammed the United Nations for the suspension of a UN officer who leaked the report to French authorities.
The organizations accuse the UN of attempts to bury the potential scandal.
The UN has denied the claims
Rupert Colville a spokesman for , OHCHR was quoted saying: “First, this does not concern UN peacekeepers. French force in CAR was not under the umbrella of the UN. This pegs the question why would have Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights / OHCHR (OHCHR) or indeed the wider UN tried to protect French troops accused of such odious acts against children by sitting on such information, I just pose that question to you.”
The UN also says the leak of an unedited report constituted a serious breach of protocol. The circulation of report with the names of victims, witnesses and investigators also puts them at risk.
“As a concrete illustration of this concern, and why really it is a life concern, we know for a fact that at least one of the individuals, named in this document, has been contacted by a number of different media organizations within the last few days. This is very worrying. And I repeat, the core issue here is that the protection of witnesses and victims and investigators and whether or not this was compromised. And indeed is still being compromised if names are circulating,” added Colville.
Anders Kompass is the UN staffer who leaked the report to French authorities. He has since been suspended
