The UN has been hit by a new set of accusations that it mishandled allegations of sexual misconduct against peacekeepers in Central African Republic. On Thursday, Code Blue, a campaign by a US-based NGO seeking greater accountability for UN troops, said it had received 14 internal UN reports that detailed fact-finding inquiries into complaints made against troops within the UN peacekeeper mission in CAR, Al Jazeera reported. The reports showed how cases were repeatedly mishandled and botched by UN authorities. Sharanya Kanikkannan, a lawyer with Code Blue, said the UN were filtering out complaints in the early stages and throwing out cases before they could be properly investigated. “The filtering ensures that there is no access to justice for the vast majority of victims since they cannot gain access to law enforcement authorities without first convincing UN staff to believe them,” Kanikkannan said. If allegations are found to be credible, it is the responsibility of the alleged perpetrators’ home countries to prosecute them but if the UN decides that the case is not credible, the case is dropped.
