On April 29, 2015, the world learned of disturbing accounts of sexual abuse of young boys by French, Chadian, and Equatorial Guinean peacekeepers at a displaced persons camp in the Central African Republic (CAR). The interviews, which had been conducted nearly a year earlier by staff from the UN’s Office of the High Commission for Human Rights and UNICEF, were leaked to the Guardian newspaper by AIDS-Free World.
Click on a box below to read about the full story of CAR sexual abuse, including a detailed the account of Anders Kompass, a career human rights official from Sweden, who had been suspended and was being investigated by the UN for his role in passing details of the abuse to the French government.
the full story of car sexual abuse and the UN
code blue's Car statements and press releases
INTERNAL UN DOCUMENTS ON CAR
Code Blue Statements and Press Releases on the sexual abuse scandal in the Central African Republic
KEY UN INTERNAL DOCUMENTS AND CORRESPONDENCE
code blue letter to under-secretary-general of internal oversight services (2017)
On September 13, 2017, the Code Blue Campaign issued a package of materials detailing egregious failings in the United Nations’ response to sexual exploitation and abuse complaints lodged against military peacekeepers serving in the UN mission in the Central African Republic, MINUSCA. Fourteen case files leaked to us by a UN source reveal an investigative process that grossly neglects the rights of victims and offends basic standards of justice.
After learning that the UN's Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) would be supporting a "review" of the cases, to be led by MINUSCA, the Code Blue Campaign wrote a letter to Under-Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Services, Heidi Mendoza, on September 21, 2017, outlining our concerns about MINUSCA's involvement. She replied on September 29, 2017, expressing that OIOS was "extremely grateful" to us for bringing this matter to their attention, including eight new cases that they hadn't been aware of. She also indicated that OIOS had "opened an investigation into the conduct of those involved in the initial response." The Code Blue Campaign has received no further correspondence from OIOS regarding that investigation.
MINUSCA Operational Readiness Assessment and Memo (2017)
On June 6, 2017, the Code Blue Campaign wrote an open letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres regarding a leaked MINUSCA Operational Readiness Assessment and memo provided by a UN source. Read the open letter here and download the documents below:
2015 Allegations of Peacekeeper sexual abuse in the CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
Legend of key internal UN documents, emails and memos related to sexual exploitation and abuse of children in the Central African Republic by international peacekeeping forces. (Posted May 29, 2015)
