UN mission in Congo probes sex abuse allegations


November 17, 2007
AFP 
Source: http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gsoJJxvdryootOhohsYZiPNsA0pA


KINSHASA— The UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo has opened an investigation into allegations of violent sexual abuse implicating one of its soldiers in the country's northeast, it said Saturday.

The incident is alleged to have involved a soldier from the mission's base in Bunia in the Ituri district and occurred on the night between November 13 and 14, the mission said in a statement.

It added that all allegations of this nature are taken seriously by the mission.

The incident is the latest in a string of sexual abuse allegations to hit the UN mission, known by its French acronym MONUC.

UN sources told AFP that a young Congolese woman accused a Moroccan soldier of cutting her face after having sex with her and not paying the agreed sum.

Her face was certainly injured, one of the sources said.

She was treated and admitted at the Moroccan hospital in Bunia, but the statements are somewhat muddled and the investigation should determine if it was indeed a (UN soldier) who was responsible.

Between December 2004 and August 2006, some 140 cases of sexual abuse or prostitution implicating MONUC personnel were reported.

In February 2005, the UN prohibited troops from having sexual contact with Congolese after accusations of sexual abuse involving 13-year-old girls emerged.

Set up in 1999, MONUC includes some 17,600 soldiers, the largest peacekeeping mission currently deployed by the United Nations.