UN panel to review Central Africa child sexual abuse claims

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed an independent panel to review the UN’ handling of allegations of child sexual abuse by French soldiers in Central African Republic. Marie Deschamps, a former Supreme Court justice of Canada will chair the independent panel that will include Hassan Jallow of Gambia, a prosecutor of the UN tribunal for Rwanda, and Yasmin Sooka, executive director of the Foundation of Human Rights in South Africa.

French troops arrived in Central African Republic in late 2013 and had a U.N. mandate to assist an African Union peacekeeping operation. The U.N. first heard allegations from children as young as nine that French soldiers had sexually abused them, sometimes in exchange for food, a year ago. Since then, the only person who has been punished is the U.N. staffer who told French authorities, Anders Kompass.

At least 14 French soldiers are under investigation over allegations that children were forced to perform oral sex in exchange for food. The report also provided accounts from children, aged 8 to 13, who said troops from Chad and Equatorial Guinea brutally raped boys.

The panel will begin work next month (July 2015) and expected to submit a report within ten weeks.


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