France launches criminal inquiry into alleged sex abuse by UN soldiers, UN suspension of sexual abuse report whistleblower is unlawful, tribunal rules, South Yorkshire Police warned twice of Rotherham child abuse but did not act, as commissioner claims girls were seen as 'willing'

France launches criminal inquiry into alleged sex abuse by UN soldiers
Prosecutors announce investigation into claims French soldiers raped children on peacekeeping operation in Central African Republic
Kim Willsher in Paris and Sandra Laville in London Thursday 7 May 2015
French prosecutors have ordered a criminal investigation into allegations that French peacekeeping soldiers raped children and demanded sex for food in the Central African Republic.

The decision follows revelations in the Guardian more than a week ago that a senior United Nations official had been suspended for leaking details of the alleged abuse to the French government.

The Paris prosecutor’s office said on Thursday it had decided to launch criminal proceedings after receiving a reply to its request for information from the UN about the accusations of sexual abuse by French soldiers serving with the peacekeeping operation Sangaris.

It said the investigation concerned “the rape of minors under 15 years old by persons who had abused the authority conferred upon them by their roles, and complicity in this crime”....

Kompass, director of field operations, was suspended last month and faces an internal disciplinary disciplinary hearing for breaching UN protocols.

On Wednesday an appeal tribunal found that the suspension of Kompass was unlawful and ordered his reinstatement while an internal management review continues....
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/07/france-criminal-inquiry-alleged-sex-abuse-french-soldiers-un-central-african-republic


UN suspension of sexual abuse report whistleblower is unlawful, tribunal rules

Judge orders UN to lift suspension of Anders Kompass, who leaked internal UN report on alleged abuse of children by French troops in Central African Republic
Sandra Laville Wednesday 6 May 2015


An appeal tribunal has ordered the United Nations to immediately lift the suspension of a whistleblower who disclosed the alleged sexual abuse of children by peacekeeping troops in Africa to the French authorities.

A judge said on Wednesday the decision to suspend Anders Kompass, the director of field operations for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, was “prima facie unlawful”. He ordered his employers in the UN to lift his suspension immediately to prevent further damage to his reputation.

The decision is a blow to senior UN officials who have repeatedly defended their treatment of Kompass, claiming he breached strict protocols about the passing on of confidential information to outside authorities....
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/06/un-suspension-of-sexual-abuse-report-whistleblower-is-unlawful-tribunal-rules


South Yorkshire Police warned twice of Rotherham child abuse but did not act, as commissioner claims girls were seen as 'willing'

Loulla-Mae Eleftheriou-Smith  Tuesday 05 May 2015

Senior members of South Yorkshire police were warned twice of the serious child abuse being carried out in Rotherham around a decade before it was discovered 1,400 children had been raped, trafficked and groomed over a period of 16 years – but no action was taken at the time.

The Sheffield Star has obtained reports from 2003 and 2006 detailing the organised child sexual exploitation being carried out in Rotherham and Sheffield.

Dr Angie Heal, the author of the reports, stated at the time it was “very evident” that “significant abuse” was taking place in Sheffield and Rotherham, in 2003, and in 2006 found that that the perpetrators of sexual abuse had been able to “carry on with impunity”.

The reports were sent to both South Yorkshire Police district commanders, chief superintendents and CID and community safety superintendents at the time, but no action was taken. The newspaper obtained the documents through a Freedom of Information request.

As the news of the warnings emerge, South Yorkshire’s current police and crime commissioner has claimed that  “it all went wrong” in Rotherham because police had not understood what grooming was, nor recognised the abuse, and had instead seen the girls as prostitutes....
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/south-yorkshire-police-warned-twice-of-rotherham-child-abuse-but-did-not-act-as-commissioner-claims-girls-were-seen-as-willing-10225840.html