Africans slam U.N. for rapes by troops
Peacekeeping forces continue to abuse, they say
BANGUI, Central African Republic – The United Nations became embroiled in one of its worst scandals in 2014 when shocking allegations surfaced that U.N. peacekeepers raped women and children in this impoverished, war-battered nation.
Today, blue-helmeted soldiers and U.N. staff still rape with impunity despite pledges by U.N. leaders to end the abuses, accusers said.
“I am ashamed of the so-called international community,” a tearful Marie-Blanche Marboua said. She said a U.N. soldier raped her 10-year-old son a year ago in Bouar, 300 miles from this capital city. “My son is still traumatized.
“I have realized that nothing must be expected from these white people,” she said. “Now, I put everything in the hands of God.”
U.N. international peacekeeping forces were sent to Central African Republic to stabilize the country after more than a decade of civil war. While there, soldiers sexually abused hundreds of boys, girls and women, according to child rights organizations and the United Nations’ own records.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres acknowledged the exploitation and pledged when he took office a year ago to crack down.
“Sexual exploitation and abuse have no place in our world,” Guterres said in September. “It is a global menace, and it must end.”
Last year, U.N. officials vowed to improve funding and staffing to address sex abuse cases. Atul Khare, undersecretary general, said those efforts led to a 50% drop in assaults on children by peacekeepers across the globe during the first 11 months of 2017 compared with the same period in 2016. “We believe our new strategy is bearing some initial fruit,” said Khare, who conceded
“I have realized that nothing must be expected from these white people.” Marie-Blanche Marboua, who says a U.N. soldier raped her son
that “even one allegation is one too many.”
Uwolowulakana Ikavi-Gbetanou, a spokeswoman for U.N. peacekeeping forces in Bangui, said abuse cases have declined in the country because of new steps, such as more training of personnel and aggressive investigations of allegations.
The United Nations’ own watchdog said in a report in June that although progress had been made, much improvement was needed.
Human rights groups disputed claims of fewer assaults, saying the United Nations did not have an accurate account of abuse victims.
“The U.N. is claiming things are getting better, but it is in complete control over the assessments of people coming forward,” said Paula Donovan, a former U.N. official who is co-director of AIDS-Free World, which tracks peacekeeper abuses. “They are police, judge and jury.”
The number of victims is far higher than the United Nations reports, said Remy Djamouss, president of the Center for the Promotion and Defense of the Rights of Children in Bangui.
Some victims and their families fail to report assaults because they don’t know how to file a claim, believe there won’t be an impartial investigation or fear reprisals, Donovan said.
One 17-year-old girl said she did not report being raped at gunpoint in June by two peacekeepers in the city of Bria because sexual assault by U.N. soldiers is so common. She said many friends and neighbors had children as a result of being raped by peacekeepers. “I did not tell people that I was raped by the peacekeepers because they would make fun of me,” said Merveille, whose last name was withheld under USA TODAY’s policy to protect her privacy.
A 13-year-old girl said she was attacked two years ago at Camp M’Poko near Bangui’s international airport.
“Three white soldiers told me to come get candies and cookies,” said Joanna, whose last name was withheld. “One of them covered my mouth with his hand, and then the two raped me. I want these people to be punished.”
Peacekeeping soldiers, who come from dozens of countries, usually are sent home when they face sexual abuse allegations, as required under U.N. rules. That policy has become a shield for abusers, advocates for children say.
“The victims come to tell us how a white soldier did this, another did that,” said Claudia Toussonekeya, an attorney with the Central African Women Lawyers Association, which records complaints of sexual abuse by soldiers and other foreigners in the country.
“We tell them that we can do nothing, and that even (Central African Republic’s) justice system cannot do anything,” she said.
U.N. records from 2015 through 2017 show six soldiers serving here were jailed for abuse or sexual exploitation and one was dismissed by his government, according to Nick Birnback, chief of public affairs at the peacekeeping unit. During the same period, according to U.N. records, there were 255 alleged victims of abuse, 141 of them children.