Girls from Central African Republic claims they have been sexually abuse by international peacekeepers, United Nations (U.N.) officials said on Wednesday. UN is investigating the said claims as 98 girls were reported to have been sexually abused according to an American advocacy group.
According to Yahoo News, three among the victims come forward to UN and told the sexual abuse they went through. They said a French military commander tied them up, force them to take off their clothes and were told to have sex with a dog. The case dates back to 2014 and a fourth girl with them later died due to an unknown disease.
Another reports that the advocacy group Aids-free World, received include a victim from a different part of the country, age 16, who claimed she was raped four days ago. She has been turned over to the United Nations.
The group's Code Blue campaign to end sexual abuse and exploitation also reported 69 claims of child rape and other sexual abuse by peacekeepers from 10 missions, International Business Times reported. In January and February, UN recorded another 25 sexual abuse claims and exploitation with the U.N. mission in Central African Republic.
Many of the cases happened from the previous years. This compares with a total of six allegations in the 15 other U.N. peacekeeping missions, in the first two months of this year, the U.N. peacekeeping department said.
Stephane Dujarric, U.N. spokesman said on Wednesday, the new allegations went back to 2013 and also included allegations against local armed groups, US News reported. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also said he was "shocked to the core by the latest allegations."
The accused peacekeepers from the countries of Burundi, Gabon and France were formally informed regarding from what the U.N. human rights chief, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein described as "sickening" allegations. The United Nations has deployed over 100,000 peacekeepers in 16 missions all over the world.
