The United Nations is facing new allegations that peacekeepers in Central African Republic sexually assaulted at least three children under 18 and raped three adult women earlier this year, the latest in a series of sexual misconduct claims that have marred U.N. peacekeeping efforts in recent years.
The U.N. said it has detained a suspect after its preliminary inquiry into the allegations involving the minors, who were allegedly abused by Mauritanian troops participating in the peacekeeping mission.
The rape accusations pertain to troops from Cameroon who haven’t been identified, the U.N. said.
The U.N. is now asking Mauritania and Cameroon to investigate. Their U.N. missions didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment, nor did Central African Republic’s mission.
It’s normal procedure for the U.N. to ask peacekeepers’ home countries to investigate such allegations.
The world body could investigate if the countries don’t, however. It can’t prosecute peacekeepers, but it can provide evidence to their countries, which are responsible for taking action if accusations are substantiated.
The U.N. has gotten scrutiny in recent years over claims of child rape and other sexual abuse by peacekeepers, and the four-year-old mission in Central African Republic has been confronted with a particularly high number of claims. It also has been a focus of criticism from a watchdog group over how accusations have been handled.
U.N. officials said the new claims of sexual abuse of minors involve four Mauritanian peacekeepers and alleged incidents in the southern part of CAR at various times, including in May and August.
The U.N. wouldn’t divulge more details about the accusations, including the alleged victims’ ages or locale.
The peacekeeping mission said in a press release that word of the accusations reached the U.N. special representative for CAR, Parfait Onanga-Anyanga, on Sept. 24, and he quickly dispatched staffers to the site of the reported abuse.
“Given to the seriousness of these allegations and the information gathered by the preliminary fact-finding team, the U.N. took immediate and appropriate measures,” including detaining the sole suspect who has been identified, spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
The peacekeeping mission added that Onanga-Anyanga would “take further action against identified perpetrators.”
The other allegations involve six Cameroonian troops and alleged rapes in April, according to a U.N. chart of sexual misconduct claims. U.N. officials gave no other details but said the organization notified Cameroon of the claim Sept. 28.
