French president responds to allegations that peacekeeping troops
sexually abused children at displacement camp in Central African
Republic
The French president, François Hollande, has vowed to show no mercy
over allegations that French peacekeeping soldiers sexually abused
starving and homeless children in the Central African Republic.
“If some soldiers have behaved badly, I will show no mercy,” he told reporters on a visit to Brest, north-west France.
A French judicial source has told Reuters that a certain number of French soldiers accused of the abuse had been identified.
A leaked United Nations report obtained by the Guardian revealed the alleged abuse of about 10 boys aged eight to 15 at a camp for internally displaced people in CAR’s capital, Bangui. Le Monde reported that more than a dozen French soldiers were alleged to have committed abuse.
The details of the alleged abuse have sent shockwaves through France.
The political opposition has criticised the Socialist government for staying quiet over the allegations even though it was notified in July last year and immediately informed prosecutors, who launched a preliminary inquiry. One opposition UMP MP told French TV it was a shame that details of the scandal had emerged in a foreign newspaper.
But Pierre Bayle, a spokesman for the defence ministry, told reporters: “There is no desire to hide anything.” He said the government had wanted to allow the judicial inquiry to take its course and the justice system to do its work.
The French army on Thursday promised “zero tolerance” and “total transparency”. A spokesman said French soldiers were subject to the same laws as everyone else in France.
The army has also launched its own inquiry to establish whether there was any “disfunction in the command chain”.
Meanwhile, Laurence Rossignol, the French families minister, told French TV: “We know very well that during wars or when countries are in chaos, women and children are victim to predators. That means that if those who are there to protect them are themselves predators, from a certain point of view they have committed a double crime.”
She said there would be no complacency from the French defence ministry.
“If some soldiers have behaved badly, I will show no mercy,” he told reporters on a visit to Brest, north-west France.
A French judicial source has told Reuters that a certain number of French soldiers accused of the abuse had been identified.
A leaked United Nations report obtained by the Guardian revealed the alleged abuse of about 10 boys aged eight to 15 at a camp for internally displaced people in CAR’s capital, Bangui. Le Monde reported that more than a dozen French soldiers were alleged to have committed abuse.
The details of the alleged abuse have sent shockwaves through France.
The political opposition has criticised the Socialist government for staying quiet over the allegations even though it was notified in July last year and immediately informed prosecutors, who launched a preliminary inquiry. One opposition UMP MP told French TV it was a shame that details of the scandal had emerged in a foreign newspaper.
But Pierre Bayle, a spokesman for the defence ministry, told reporters: “There is no desire to hide anything.” He said the government had wanted to allow the judicial inquiry to take its course and the justice system to do its work.
The French army on Thursday promised “zero tolerance” and “total transparency”. A spokesman said French soldiers were subject to the same laws as everyone else in France.
The army has also launched its own inquiry to establish whether there was any “disfunction in the command chain”.
Meanwhile, Laurence Rossignol, the French families minister, told French TV: “We know very well that during wars or when countries are in chaos, women and children are victim to predators. That means that if those who are there to protect them are themselves predators, from a certain point of view they have committed a double crime.”
She said there would be no complacency from the French defence ministry.
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