Allegations of Child Sexual Abuse in the CAR Not Given Priority by the United Nations, Argentine Judges Allowed to Resign After Child Abuse Ruling

Allegations of Child Sexual Abuse in the CAR Not Given Priority by the United Nations
07/06/2015  Bea Edwards  Executive & International Director, Government Accountability Project

On April 29 Sandra Laville at The Guardian broke the story of child sex abuse by French peacekeeping troops in the Central African Republic (CAR) at a camp for the displaced the previous year. An appalling report had surfaced when Prince Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein, the High Commissioner for Human Rights (HCHR), decided -- eight months after the fact -- to suspend Anders Kompass, a high-level human rights official and reluctant whistleblower, for reporting the crimes to the French police....
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bea-edwards/allegations-of-child-sexu_b_7735940.html


Argentine Judges Allowed to Resign After Child Abuse Ruling

By JONATHAN GILBERT  JULY 4, 2015

BUENOS AIRES — Two Argentine judges whose controversial decision to reduce the sentence of a convicted child abuser provoked widespread anger here have had their resignations accepted, Argentina’s state news agency reported on Saturday.

The judges, Horacio Piombo, 72, and Benjamín Sal Llargués, reduced the sentence because they claimed that the 6-year-old victim, a boy, had already displayed homosexual tendencies. They were allowed to step down by Daniel Scioli, the governor of Buenos Aires Province, according to Télam, the news agency.

The revelation of the judges’ ruling infuriated Argentines, especially gay and human rights groups. The federal government’s cabinet chief said it was “one of the greatest barbarities seen in our country.” The decision by Judges Piombo and Sal Llargués to halve the abuser’s sentence was taken last year in the province’s criminal appeals court, but it only came to light recently.

The sentence of Mario Tolosa, the vice president of a sports club who several years ago had raped the boy, a junior soccer player, was cut from six years to a little more than three. Local news reports said Mr. Tolosa had already been released from prison.

The judges based their ruling on what they said was the boy’s sexual disposition, suggesting that he had homosexual leanings....

The judges had previously faced controversy when they halved the sentence of another convicted child abuser, a pastor, in 2011, paving the way for his immediate release from prison.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/05/world/americas/argentine-judges-allowed-to-resign-after-child-abuse-ruling.html