Countries whose soldiers have been accused have to investigate the allegations.
The United Nations Security Council has expressed anger and indignation concerning allegations of sexual abuses, exploitation and other atrocities committed by soldiers working within the framework of the United Nations Multidimensional Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA).
The Council members in a statement issued after their meeting on August 18, 2015 instructed the individual countries whose soldiers are involved in the rape accusations to carry out investigations at their levels, new agency reports say. In the press statement, the Council members recalled that the mission of the UN peacekeepers was to protect civilians in the zones where they have been deployed and insisted that the peacekeepers must respect international law, especially with regard to human rights. They said the UN must not let the actions of some individuals tarnish the heroic work of tens of thousands of peacekeepers and UN staff.
UN Security Council members welcomed and endorsed the Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s commitment to ensure the strict implementation of the zero tolerance policy and the appointment of an independent external commission to probe into the allegations of abuses committed in the Central African Republic, as well as the systemic response of the organization. The Council members said they were impatiently waiting for the findings of the commission that is working on accusations of atrocities committed between December 2013 to June 2014 to be made public.
Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary General in demonstration of his anger and indignation over the accusations, had earlier sacked his special representative in the Central African Republic, and head of MINUSCA, General Babacar Gaye and replaced him with Gabonese-born General Parfait Onanga-Anyanga who will officially take over command tomorrow, Friday, August 21, 2015. He called on countries that contributed soldiers to MINUSCA to take to court soldiers proven to be guilty of sexual abuses and other atrocities.
