United Nations Investigate Leaked Sex Abuse Report in Central African Republic

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The United Nations said on Thursday it was looking into allegations that complaints of sexual abuse and exploitation made against its peacekeepers in the conflict-torn Central African Republic were mishandled or unreported.

The U.N.'s 10,000-strong mission in Central African Republic (MINUSCA) has been dogged by accusations of sex abuse since it deployed in 2014 to curb fighting between mainly Muslim Seleka rebels, who had ousted the president, and Christian militias.

Internal U.N. case files handed to Code Blue — a campaign by a nongovernmental organization seeking greater accountability for U.N. troops — detail 14 initial fact-finding inquiries into complaints made against MINUSCA peacekeepers from nine nations.

Under U.N. rules, peacekeepers are under the exclusive jurisdiction of the countries that sent them to serve abroad.

Yet the files — which were not seen by Reuters — reveal that 10 of the 14 cases were handled only by U.N. personnel, without involvement of investigators from the accused soldiers' home countries, and that in eight of the 14 cases, the alleged victims were not interviewed, Code Blue said.