The United Nations' troubled peacekeeping mission in Central
African Republic has been hit with new allegations of rape by peacekeepers,
including one underage victim, a U.N. spokeswoman said on Wednesday.
Last week the head of the Central African Republic (CAR)
mission, known as MINUSCA, was sacked after a series of allegations of sexual
abuse and excessive use of force by peacekeepers. MINUSCA chief Babacar Gaye
was replaced by Parfait Onanga-Anyanga, who was named the mission's acting
chief, Reuters reports.
"A new series of disturbing allegations of misconduct
have recently come to light. The events allegedly took place in recent weeks. These
new allegations concern a report that three young females were raped by three
members of a MINUSCA military contingent," U.N. spokeswoman Vannina
Maestracci told reporters.
She said one of the women was a minor and the incident
occurred in Bambari, where troops from the Democratic Republic of the Congo
(DRC) are deployed. The allegations were reported to MINUSCA's human rights
division on Aug. 12 by the families of the three women, Maestracci said.
U.N. sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed
to Reuters that the accused troops were from DRC. The sources said the United
Nations in New York was made aware of the allegations on Aug. 17 and the
Congolese authorities the same day.
"The troop contributing country has been asked to
indicate within 10 days if it intends to investigate the allegations
itself," Maestracci said. "Should the member state decline to
investigate or fail to respond the United Nations would rapidly conduct its own
investigation."
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