The United Nations is coming under criticism for failing to
investigate allegations of sexual exploitation of children by French
peacekeeping troops in the Central African Republic between December
2013 and June 2014. The Guardian obtained a leaked report that says
French soldiers raped and sodomized starving and homeless young boys who
they were supposed to be protecting at a center for internally
displaced people during intense fighting in the country. Even after the
exploitation was brought to the attention of senior U.N. officials, the
U.N. never reported it to French authorities — nor did it do anything to
immediately stop the abuse. So far, the only person to be punished is a
U.N. aid worker, Anders Kompass, who stepped outside official channels
to alert French authorities about the sexual exploitation. Kompass has
since been accused of leaking the confidential report in breach of U.N.
protocols and now faces dismissal. We speak to Paula Donovan,
co-director of AIDS-Free World, which has launched the Code Blue campaign.
Transcript
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
NERMEEN SHAIKH:
The United Nations is coming under criticism for failing to investigate
allegations of sexual exploitation of children by French peacekeeping
troops in the Central African Republic between December 2013 and June
2014. The Guardian obtained a leaked report that says French
soldiers raped and sodomized starving and homeless young boys who they
were suppose to be protecting at a center for internally displaced
people during intense fighting in the country. Even after the
exploitation was brought to the attention of senior U.N. officials, the
U.N. never reported it to French authorities, nor did it do anything to
immediately stop the abuse. So far, the only person to be punished is a
U.N. aid worker, Anders Kompass, who stepped outside official channels
to alert French authorities to the sexual exploitation occurring.
Kompass has since been accused of leaking a confidential report in
breach of U.N. protocols and now faces dismissal.The Guardian obtained the leaked report from Paula Donovan, who will join us shortly. She and other activists have just launched a new campaign called Code Blue, which seeks to hold the United Nations accountable for sexual misconduct. Earlier this month, the group held a press conference to announce the campaign. This is Stephen Lewis of AIDS-Free World, followed by Theo Sowa of the African Women’s Development Fund and Ambassador Anwarul Chowdhury of Bangladesh.
STEPHEN LEWIS: Never, but never, can sexual exploitation and abuse be subject to immunity. That’s the first step. The second step flows logically. Once the immunity is removed from non-military personnel, then the military will be under tremendous pressure to expunge sexual exploitation and abuse from their ranks.
