A senior United Nations aid worker has been suspended for disclosing a report outlining sexual abuse by French peacekeeping troops in the Central African Republic.
Anders Kompass, who is based in Geneva, passed the document to French authorities due to the UN failure to take action to stop abuse reports The Guardian.
Mr Kompass was suspended from his post as director of field operations, and accused of leaking confidential UN information and breaching protocols.
The aid worker has been placed under investigation by the UN office for internal oversight service (OIOS), with the knowledge of senior UN officials, including the UN Human Rights Chief, Zeid AL Hussein.
The confidential report, Sexual Abuse on Children by International Armed Forces, documented details of the rape and sodomy of starving homeless young boys by French peacekeeping troops in the CAR.
Paula Donovan, the co-director of Aids Free World, calling for an independent commission of inquiry into the matter, said,
““The regular sex abuse by peacekeeping personnel uncovered here and the United Nations’ appalling disregard for victims are stomach-turning, but the awful truth is that this isn’t uncommon. The UN’s instinctive response to sexual violence in its ranks – ignore, deny, cover up, dissemble – must be subjected to a truly independent commission of inquiry with total access, top to bottom, and full subpoena power.”
On Wednesday, the French government confirmed that authorities were investigating allegations. A defence ministry statement said that the government “was made aware at the end of July 2014 by the UN’s high commission of human rights of accusations by children that they had been sexually abused by French soldiers.”