(HRW) – Last week, an independent panel released a much-anticipated report on sexual exploitation and abuse by peacekeepers and United Nations staff of the very people they are meant to be protecting. Reports of egregious abuse by peacekeepers in the Central African Republic, including the rape of children, prompted the investigation. In some cases the perpetrators were wearing UN blue helmets. Some, like the French Sangaris troops, were in Central African Republic to support African Union forces until they were replaced by a UN peacekeeping mission.
