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The United Nations today said "it is possible, it's horribly possible" that more allegations of sexual abuse of children by French and other soldiers in Central African Republic could come to light as investigations continue.
A UN human rights spokesman reminded reporters in Geneva that conditions where the alleged abuse occurred last year were chaotic, with thousands of displaced people taking refuge at the capital's airport and under protection of French and other troops.
Rupert Colville said UN officials now have to see what French authorities will come up with as their investigation continues. He called the allegations "abhorrent" and "utterly odious."
"Longer term, only the French can do this investigation ... Fully," he said.
Residents of the camp for displaced persons have told The Associated Press that French soldiers tasked with protecting civilians during months of vicious sectarian violence in the country had sexually abused boys as young as 9 years old.
France's investigations follow an initial UN investigation into the allegations a year ago. All of the probes came to light Wednesday when a report in the Guardian newspaper pushed officials to publicly acknowledge the allegations.
The accusations were made before a UN peacekeeping force arrived in the country in September.
The UN has said one of its human rights workers leaked information about the UN investigation to French authorities last year. Swede Anders Kompass has been suspended and is under internal investigation. The UN says the leak was a breach of protocol, with the leak including names of victims and witnesses.
Paula Donovan, whose group AIDS-Free World has been looking into abuse by peacekeeping personnel, has said children also accused soldiers from Chad and Equatorial Guinea.
The UN today said it didn't know whether the accusations against soldiers from Chad and Equatorial Guinea were being pursued but that the French investigation might cover them.
The deputy spokesman for the UN secretary-general, Farhan Haq, told reporters in New York that troops from those countries did not join the UN peacekeeping mission. Chad withdrew before the UN mission came, and the inclusion of Equatorial Guinea troops was not approved by UN peacekeeping officials, Haq said.
The UN Security Council has called on the African Union and troop-contributing countries to investigate reported human rights abuses by forces present in Central African Republic before the UN mission arrived, he said.
