Summary MINUSCA mission has been hit with a string of allegations against its members
LIBREVILLE (AFP) - The scandal-ridden UN peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic said Tuesday it had been informed of a new case of alleged sex abuse by one of its members, taking the total number of such cases to 17.
The MINUSCA mission has been hit with a string of allegations against its members, including many that allegedly involve underage victims as young as 11.
UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous has described the sexual abuse claims against the MINUSCA force as "catastrophic" after returning from a trip to the Central African Republic recently.
"There are currently 17 allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse by UN personnel in the CAR that have been reported to MINUSCA," the UN mission said in a statement.
"Of these 17 cases, 13 involve allegations against our military, one involves allegations against our police, one case is against a civilian, and in two cases, the perpetrator s status is unknown," it said.
"Each and every case has been documented and initial fact-finding, preservation of evidence, and/or investigations have been initiated."
MINUSCA said it had informed both CAR officials and the UN top brass including rights chief Zeid Ra ad Al-Hussein of the latest case.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon last month took the unprecedented step of firing mission chief Babacar Gaye of Senegal, and replacing him with Parfait Onanga-Anyanga of Gabon, over the wave of accusations.
Ban has described sexual abuse in peacekeeping as a "cancer in our system."
Under UN rules, it is up to member states to investigate and prosecute their soldiers who face accusations of misconduct while serving under the UN flag.
