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UN peacekeepers accused of rape, murder in CAR

August 12, 2015

A rights group has accused UN 'blue helmet' peacekeepers of killings and assaults, including rape of a 12-year-old girl. UN chief Ban Ki-moon has said he is "disappointed and dismayed" by the allegations.

https://p.dw.com/p/1GDh4
Zentralafrikanische Republik Bangui Minusca UN-Truppen
Image: picture-alliance/AA/

The UN mission in the Central African Republic launched an investigation Tuesday following charges that its armed peacekeepers killed a 16-year-old boy and his father and raped a young girl earlier this month.

Amnesty International researchers say the two incidents on August 2nd and 3rd occurred after the peacekeepers from Rwanda and Cameroon clashed with residents in the capital, Bangui.

UN peacekeepers have been in the Central African Republic since September to try to calm deadly sectarian violence between Christian and Muslim communities.

Peacekeepers accused of unprovoked violence

The deadly chain of events began after peacekeepers tried to arrest a former rebel chief in the predominantly Muslim PK5 district of the capital. Five people were killed in clashes with residents, including a Cameroonian peacekeeper.

UN peacekeepers returned the next day and began to "shoot at anything that moved" despite any apparent threat, a witness told Amnesty. Killed were residents Balla Hadji, 61 and his son, Souleimane, 16.

Infografik UN Mission MINUSCA Englisch

In a separate incident, a 12-year-old girl told Amnesty that a man in a blue UN helmet pulled her from her house and raped her behind a truck during a power failure.

"When I cried, he slapped me hard and put his hand over my mouth," she told Amnesty investigators. A nurse later found medical evidence consistent with sexual assault, Amnesty said.

The UN mission to the Central African Republic said through its spokesman Hamadoun Toure that it was "not aware" of the allegations but was taking the matter "very seriously."

The allegations have made waves all the way to the top of the UN's hierarchy. Speaking to journalists in New York, Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, said Tuesday that the allegations would be thoroughly investigated.

"The secretary-general is personally dismayed and disappointed, not just by these latest reports, but by the series of allegations that has surfaced ... in recent months," he said.

Disturbing allegations against UN peacekeepers

French peacekeepers stand in front a group of young Boys.
Allegations of child sexual abuse by French soldiers in Central African Republic surfaced last year. An independent panel is now looking into that case.Image: AFP/Getty Images/M.Medina

But it's not clear how deep the UN secretary general's own probe will go. The UN has no powers of criminal investigation or prosecution, leaving it up to peacekeepers' home countries, making it very challenging to prosecute.

In June, the United Nations announced that an investigation had been launched after peacekeepers were accused of sexually abusing street children. And last month the mission in Central African Republic sent home 20 peacekeepers for using excessive force against four people, killing two of them.

The UN is already under heightened scrutiny over its handling of allegations of child sexual abuse by French soldiers in Central African Republic last year, and an independent panel is now looking into that case.

There are around 10,000 UN peacekeepers in Central African Republic.

jar/bw (Reuters, AP, AFP)