By RFIPosted on 17-11-2019Modified on 17-11-2019 at 21:07

It is a rebound in the case of sexual violence committed in the Central African Republic by Gabonese and Burundian peacekeepers between 2014 and 2015. An internal audit of the United Nations, which RFI was able to obtain a copy, reveals many dysfunctions in the investigation conducted in 2016. They would explain why many charges could not be confirmed, nor why the investigation could not really succeed.

With our correspondent in New York, Carrie Nooten

It is a severe self-criticism that the UN Internal Oversight Service - OIOS - has conducted in conducting this audit. Indeed, in front of the overwhelming list of errors, it is understandable why the investigation of the suspicions of rape by the soldiers of the Minusca , Dekoa, tramples. It is also to be feared that a majority of the evidence gathered by the investigators in 2016 will never be admissible in court.

First, there are organizational dysfunctions. UNICEF, for example, is the first to hear the testimony, but is slow to warn the UN.

There is also the lack of preparation for interrogations which, according to the protocol, has caught the 31 investigators sent to Dekoa by surprise.

Then, the report points out errors in interrogation methodology, some of whose questions could be " humiliating " or " intimidating " for women who testified to the rapes they had suffered.

Finally, the audit shows that many DNA samples, essential evidence in rape cases, were poorly preserved and simply " rotten ".

Finally, of the 163 denunciations, 26 were not selected. The 69 cases involving Burundian soldiers have been reclassified into "fraternization" relations with civilians, and the 68 cases involving Gabonese peacekeepers are still pending.

The Minusca claims to have been conducting a " zero tolerance " policy for the past few months against peacekeepers who would have relations with Central Africans or be suspected of sexual violence. The sanctions are immediate and the incriminated soldiers are lifted from peacekeeping missions for life.

Many sensitizations are carried out with deployed troops as well as within the population and any " fraternization " is henceforth forbidden. A network of around 20 relay associations, responsible for collecting the testimonies of future victims, was set up by the United Nations.

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