Three French judges investigating allegations of rape by French peacekeeping soldiers in the Central African Republic (CAR) have not requested bringing any charges.



The judges were investigating allegations that up to six soldiers sexually assaulted children they had been sent to protect in M’Poko, near Bangui three years ago.

It now falls to the Paris prosecutor to make the final decision on any charges. If none are brought, the case could be closed.

The alleged abuse is said to have occurred at a centre for displaced people between December 2013 – when a French military operation in the country began – and June 2014.

The allegations came to light when a UN official, Anders Kompass, sent an internal report on claims collected by colleagues on the ground in CAR to French prosecutors because he was concerned that no action was being taken.

The internal UN report contained interviews with children as young as eight carried out between May and June 2014 by a member of staff from the office of the high commissioner for human rights and a Unicef specialist.

Kompass passed the report to the French in the summer of 2014 and a criminal investigation was launched. The judges and gendarmes visited CAR in July 2015 and again in 2016.

A source close to the investigation told Agence France-Presse that the investigators had not managed to “materially corroborate” the allegations.

Six soldiers flagged up as potentially having assaulted children were interviewed. They all said they had given children food but denied sexual abuse, the news agency reported. The Paris prosecutor’s office said the judges’ investigation finished on 20 December.

Since the case came to light, other allegations have been made. Two other inquiries into alleged sexual abuse by French peacekeeping troops in CAR were opened by the Paris prosecutor. One was closed with no charges on 25 November.

Another inquiry, into allegations of sexual abuse of three girls in Dékoa between 2013 and 2015, is ongoing.