France: Claims of Abuse by Troops Prompt an Inquiry
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Version 0 of 1. French judges will formally investigate allegations that French troops sexually abused children during peacekeeping operations in the Central African Republic, the Paris prosecutor’s office said Thursday. Prosecutors opened a preliminary investigation in July after a confidential United Nations report on the allegations was brought to the attention of the French authorities, but the case publicly surfaced last week after a report in The Guardian. According to the prosecutor’s statement, the United Nations report contains testimony by six children aged 9 to 13. Four of them said they had been abused by French soldiers and two others said they had witnessed the abuse, which is said to have occurred at a camp at the M’poko airport, in the capital, Bangui, between December 2013 and last June. The airport was guarded by French troops who were sent to the Central African Republic in 2013 to quell a sectarian conflict. |