Fresh sex claims hit United Nations Central Africa army

UNITED NATIONS

The UN mission in the Central African Republic has been hit with new claims that its peacekeepers sexually abused women and girls, some of whom are pregnant.

“Minusca was informed today of allegations involving five women that had sex with peacekeepers. Three of them were under 18,” a UN official who asked not to be named said.

A team from the mission will be dispatched to Bambari, north of the capital Bangui, to collect information following the allegations involving troops from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Two of the five women became pregnant, the official said.

The 12,000-strong Minusca force has faced a string of allegations of misconduct and sexual abuse with victims as young as 11.

Three months ago, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon fired the mission chief over the wave of accusations, but many allegations have surfaced since then.

In a statement, current Minusca Chief Parfait Onanga-Anyanga condemned the acts as unacceptable and vowed to take swift and appropriate measures should the claims be substantiated.

Onanga-Anyanga said any single incident of abuse was utterly abhorrent.

It was at least the second time that troops from the DR Congo were accused of misconduct in the UN mission.

In August, three women, one of whom was a minor, accused the Congolese soldiers of rape and Kinshasa said they would face trial.

It is up to the troop-contributing country to investigate and prosecute soldiers accused of misconduct while serving under the UN flag.

The Minusca force, which took over from an African Union mission in September 2014, has been plagued by a series of allegations involving its peacekeeping forces.

The CAR is struggling to recover from sectarian violence that exploded after a 2013 coup, pitting Muslim rebels against Christian militias.

The violence began following the overthrow of president Francois Bozize.