The violence of blue helmets in Central Africa could trigger a riot

(To Tiziano Ciocchetti)
17/04/20

The United Nations Integrated Multidimensional Mission for the Stabilization in Central Africa (MINUSCA), rather than stabilizing the region and supervising the peace agreement (signed on February 6, 2019) between the government and the 14 armed groups, seems instead devoted to perpetrate violence against civilians.

The Central African population, which for several years has suffered from the damage caused by an interminable civil war, fomented by the French, is again the victim of atrocious sexual violence by the Burundian UN contingent.

In an official report, the AIDS-free world NGO denounces countless rapes perpetrated on young Central African girls by Burundian soldiers operating under the auspices of the United Nations and calls for the withdrawal of the contingent. The report concludes:

Serious violations of human rights are on the agenda in Burundi to the point of pushing the International Criminal Court to open an investigation. Among these crimes there are also many sexual violence. No wonder that MINUSCA's Burundian soldiers replicate the same war crimes and crimes against humanity in Central Africa. We ask the United Nations Secretary General to repatriate these soldiers and to stop military cooperation with Burundi. Currently, the UN pays $ 13 million annually to the Burundian government for the presence of its troops in the Central African Republic. In addition to the violence committed in Central Africa on young girls, this money indirectly finances the totalitarian regime of President Pierre Nkurunziza.

The responsibilities of the UN Secretary General Guterres are certainly not few, as a first wave of sexual violence committed by Burundian soldiers was recorded in 2015, when 43 blue helmets and Burundian officers were put under investigation by the United Nations for breaking the code of conduct envisaged during peacekeeping missions.

At the time, an internal investigation spoke of 81 women, victims of mass rape, carried out during orgiastic parties, 49 of the victims were girls between the ages of 14 and 16. Despite the overwhelming evidence, the investigation was covered up and the files got lost in the maze of the archives of the New York UN Headquarters.

The tension between the civilian population of the African country and the blue helmets inevitably skyrocketed.

Last week, following a car accident in which a civilian was killed, the inhabitants of the village of Béboura, in the northwest of the Central African Republic, destroyed a UN outpost. On March 15, a Burundian blue helmet was killed in clashes with the militiamen.

In the 16-page report, the NGO presents evidence of several group rapes ('gang bang') perpetrated on young Central African girls in economic difficulty by soldiers of the Burundian contingentasking Guterres for their immediate repatriation. "Serious human rights violations are on the agenda in Burundi to the point of pushing the International Criminal Court to open an investigation. There are also many sexual assaults among these crimes. It is no wonder that Burundian MINUSCA soldiers replicate the same crimes in war and against humanity in Central Africa. We call on the United Nations Secretary-General to repatriate these soldiers and to stop military collaboration with Burundi.Currently the UN pays $ 13 million annually to the Burundian government for the presence of its troops in the Central African Republic. In addition to the violence committed in Central Africa on young girls, this money indirectly finances the totalitarian regime of President Pierre Nkurunziza", recite the conclusions of the report.

Photo: V