President François Hollande has said he would "show no mercy" and would "make an example" of up to 16 French soldiers accused of sexually abusing children in the Central African Republic (CAR) if allegations contained in a United Nations report leaked to the Guardian newspaper prove true.
The UN has suspended Anders Kompass, the Swedish director of field operations for the UN human rights commission and a veteran of 30 years in humanitarian work, for his "grave violation of UN procedures" in sharing the confidential report with French authorities last July.
The report is based on interviews with six boys in Bangui last June. It alleges that between December 2013 and June 2014, French soldiers engaged in the 2,000-strong Operation Sangaris demanded oral sex or sodomised boys aged eight to 15 in exchange for food rations and money. The same accusations have been made against Chadian soldiers.
The troops were stationed at M’Poko airport in Bangui, where tens of thousands of Central Africans took refuge from fighting between the Muslim Seleka and Christian anti-Balaka militias. The child victims were hungry and homeless. Some were orphans.
In an interview cited by the Guardian, two nine-year-old boys told of their encounter with two French soldiers at a checkpoint at M'Poko. "One was short and smoking a lot, the other was thin and not smoking," one of the boys said. "They asked us what we wanted. We answered that we were hungry. The short man told us to first put his bangala out of his pants. The bangala of the thin one was for my friend. Their bangala were straight in front of us, at the level of our mouths."
After performing a sex act, the boys were given rations and money. Another child said he knew from his friends what he had to do to get food from the soldiers. They threatened to beat him if he said anything.
The report emerged at a particularly embarrassing time for the army. Mr Hollande said this week he will allot an additional €3.8 billion to the armed forces over 2016-2019 to finance intervention in Africa and the Middle East, and because of the army’s heightened role since attacks in Paris in January.
The French defence ministry said it would “ensure that the most firm sanctions be levelled at those responsible for what would be an intolerable attack on the values of soldiers”.
