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Internal UN Report Shows Peacekeepers' Sexual Abuse Scandal Not Properly Addressed

The United Nations stands in midtown Manhattan
United Nations / Getty Images
July 27, 2017

An internal United Nations report revealed that the organization has been mishandling cases of sexual abuse by its peacekeepers.

The report, from the UN's Office of Internal Oversight Services, indicated that the organization's bureaucracy has not properly handled, investigated, and documented crimes committed by peacekeepers in the Central African Republic (CAR), Fox News reports. MINUSCA, the leadership of the peacekeeping force, was particularly criticized.

For years, sexual abuse by peacekeepers has been a problem in the CAR, and commanders have been terminated due to the ongoing scandal. Addressing sexual abuse in the CAR has been a key focus of new U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

However, sexual abuse still occurs under the UN's leadership of 10,700 peacekeepers in the land-locked African country.

Potential problems have been identified in over half of 37 UN bases in the CAR. Criticism also included a lack of trained personnel and a lack of safe spaces for victims to go.

Critics of the UN's personnel in the CAR say that the soldiers stationed there operate with a "culture of impunity," and are generally unaccountable for their crimes.

In February 2016, 120 Congolese soldiers were sent back home on "disciplinary grounds" for sexual abuse-related cases. Other soldiers from that unit are still in the CAR.

Published under: Africa , United Nations