Bangladesh begins probe into alleged sex abuse by peacekeepers, ISPR says

Bangladesh is investigating the alleged sexual abuse by its peacekeepers in the Central African Republic and will bring to book those found guilty, says the public relations wing of the Armed Forces.

“A probe into the allegation is going on. Bangladesh will follow a zero-tolerance policy if anyone found guilty,” Shahinul Islam, Director of Inter Service Public Relations Directorate (ISPR), told bdnews24.com.

He spoke of Bangladesh’s position after international media ran reports on the alleged abuse by European soldiers and United Nations peacekeepers.

Quoting the United Nations, a Reuters report said 12 more children in the Central African Republic accused European soldiers and United Nations peacekeepers of sexual abuse.

A senior official of the UN said such abuse was "rampant" there.

Foreign troops were deployed in Central African Republic after mainly Muslim rebels seized power in the majority Christian country in 2013, provoking reprisals and fuelling religious and inter-communal violence that has killed thousands.

French troops have been in the country since December 2013. European Union troops were there from April 2014 to March 2015.

A United Nations peacekeeping mission assumed authority from African Union troops in September 2014.

According to Reuters report, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Field Support, Anthony Banbury, appeared emotional while announcing the new UN cases.

"It's hard to imagine the outrage that people working for the United Nations and for the causes of peace and security feel when these kinds of allegations come to light, particularly involving minors, which is so hard to understand," Banbury was quoted as saying.

"The United Nations is doing everything we possibly can to assist the victims, to bring accountability and justice ... and hopefully to prevent any such cases from recurring," he told reporters in New York.

Six children accused troops from France, Georgia and an unidentified European country of sexual abuse, said to have occurred mostly in 2014 near a camp for displaced people next to the airport in Central African Republic's capital Bangui.

Those three countries and the European Union are investigating the accusations, the United Nations said.

The Reuters report said another six children accused UN troops from Bangladesh, Democratic Republic of Congo, Niger and Morocco and UN police from Senegal of sex abuse. The number of allegations made in 2015 against UN peacekeepers is now 22.

It said Bangladesh and Morocco are investigating, while the United Nations is investigating the cases involving Democratic Republic and Niger after those states failed to respond to the allegations. The United Nations is investigating the Senegal case, in line with standard procedure involving police.

"What is abundantly clear in the Central African Republic is that it has been rampant," UN human rights spokesman Rupert Colville told reporters in Geneva.

"All these peacekeeping forces have played a very important role, and we shouldn't ignore that. But ... we can't ignore the fact that hopefully a small number in these armies are committing appalling abuses," Colville said.

Convictions have been "far, far too few", Colville said.

Last month, 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.