Felix Nkambeh Tih
April 13, 2016•Update: April 28, 2016
TUNIS, Tunisia
The trial of 21 Congolese UN peacekeepers accused of sexual abuse in the Central African Republic is ongoing at a military tribunal in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s capital, Kinshasa.
If convicted, the DRC will be the only country to sentence UN troops accused of sexual abuse or exploitation.
In April 4, at the opening of the trial, Jean Mabunda, special adviser to President Joseph Kabila, said the hearing would “demonstrate the commitment of [the] DRC in the fight against sexual violence”.
The defense, however, argues that the charges relate to victims who do not exist.
A total of 171 cases of rape or suspected sexual abuse were revealed between 2015 and 2016 in the Central African Republic and DRC, according to UN data analyzed by Anadolu Agency.
Since the sensational revelation of the alleged rape of six CAR children by French soldiers in 2014, only one investigation has resulted in a lawsuit.
Earlier this month, the Paris prosecutor’s office announced an investigation (the third of its kind in two years) into the allegations involving French forces between 2013 and 2015 in Dekoa, eastern CAR.
France and the UN have faced criticism over the slow handling of child sexual abuse cases.
“When peacekeepers exploit the vulnerability of the people they have been sent to protect, it is a fundamental betrayal of trust,” the UN said in a report last December.
“When the international community fails to care for the victims or to hold the perpetrators to account, that betrayal is compounded,” it added.
According to the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, a total of 108 alleged victims, mostly minor, have been questioned but "the exact number and nature of these extremely troubling allegations are still being determined".
In total, more than 25 cases of abuse or sexual exploitation were recorded by the UN between January and March this year plus nearly 100 cases that allegations revealed in April.
In 2015, 38 cases of sex abuse or exploitation were recorded in Central Africa – including 22 in the DRC – according to a UN report which also said that there had been a “significant increase” in such cases worldwide.
Following the increasing sexual abuse allegations against UN peacekeeping forces, the United Nations took certain measures, including the sacking of the head of UN’s mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) last August.
He was replaced by Parfait Onanga-Anyang who vowed to investigate the abuse allegations.
“[They are] absolutely unacceptable and any act of this kind will be denounced and punished,” he told Anadolu Agency. “We will do everything to protect the victims; we are working with other UN agencies to ensure that these victims receive all the care and the attention they deserve.”
In January, the UN mission in CAR decided to repatriate a Congolese contingent deployed in Bambari because of their possible involvement in a sexual abuse cases.
The contingent, made up of 925 soldiers, duly returned home.
MINUSCA had also repatriated 120 peacekeepers from Congo-Brazzaville deployed in Bambari, after new allegations of rape and sexual abuse were revealed on Jan. 21 by Human Rights Watch.
According to the UN system, countries are responsible for the prosecution of peacekeeping troops involved in an offense. But so far no country has sentenced a soldier accused of sexual abuse during a peacekeeping mission.
Most cases have been closed without further action.
All eyes are now on DRC, the first country to try its soldiers and perhaps give an example to others, including France, according to some political experts.
