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

UN chief orders review of handling of claims of child abuse by French soldiers

UN chief orders review of handling of claims of child abuse by French soldiers

Ban Ki-moon steps in to announce external review
‘There are systems that failed here,’ UN chief’s spokesman tells reporters
Sandra Laville and Ben Quinn  Wednesday 3 June 2015

The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, has made a dramatic intervention in the scandal of French peacekeepers allegedly abusing children in Africa by announcing an independent external review of how his organisation handled the affair.

The move is the first public intervention by the secretary general into what has become a growing controversy for the UN. Pressure is growing on the organisation and on the French authorities to explain when and how they reacted to revelations by children in Central African Republic last year that they were being sexually exploited by French soldiers at a camp for internally displaced people.

In April the Guardian revealed that a senior UN official, Anders Kompass, had been suspended for disclosing an internal report on the alleged abuse to French prosecutors. Documents released last week, including a statement from Kompass, stated his position that he had passed the report to the French because he was concerned the UN would do nothing to stop the abuse. He has been reinstated but is still under internal investigation and could be dismissed....
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/03/united-nations-child-abuse-french-soldiers

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