Burundi has until the end of this week to report back on whether it will conduct an inquiry into the sex assault allegations against its UN peacekeepers in the Central African Republic.
The development follows reports that the United Nations had received new allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation against UN peacekeepers from Burundi and Morocco in the CAR, including one that involved a 14-year-old girl.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Burundian peacekeepers had been accused of raping the 14-year-old girl earlier this month, while a Moroccan soldier had been accused of engaging in an exploitative sexual relationship with a woman in February.
Dujarric said Burundi and Morocco had been notified of the allegations. Once notified, a state has 10 days to tell the United Nations if it intends to investigate the accusations. If it does not, the world body will conduct its own inquiry.
“The Moroccans so far have indicated that they will investigate,” Dujarric said.
There have been dozens of such accusations against peacekeepers in CAR, where the UN peacekeeping mission, the MINUSCA, assumed authority from African Union troops in September 2014.
And the United Nations pledged to crack down on allegations of abuse to avoid a repeat of past mistakes. The previous head of the UN mission in Central African Republic, Babacar Gaye, resigned last August and some 800 Congolese peacekeepers were repatriated last month.
The United Nations reported 99 allegations of sexual exploitation or sexual abuse involving UN staff members across the UN system last year, a sharp increase from the 80 allegations in 2014. The majority, 69, involved personnel in 10 peacekeeping missions.
The United Nations currently has 106,000 troops and police serving in 16 peacekeeping missions.
Allegations of sexual abuse have also been made against European troops deployed in Central African Republic. French troops have been in the country since December 2013, while European Union troops were there from April 2014 to March 2015.
In December, an independent review panel accused the United Nations and its agencies of grossly mishandling allegations of child sexual abuse by international peacekeepers in Central African Republic in 2013 and 2014.
Dujarric said on Monday the UN mission in Central African Republic had also received new allegations of sexual abuse by UN and non-UN forces and civilians in the Kemo prefecture that occurred in 2014 and 2015.
He said the mission would send a team to the area to gather information.
