African Union troops accused of gang-rapes
An investigation conducted by the non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch has revealed evidence linking African Union troops in Somalia to sexual abuse of vulnerable women and girls, youngest victim was 12, The Guardian reports.
A 71-page report on the case prepared by Human Rights Watch documents many cases of soldiers sexually assaulting, gang-raping women and exchanging food aid for sex.
The African Union force in Somalia, also known as Amisom, is composed of 22,000 soldiers from six different countries. The main mission of these troops is to help the Somali government fight the Islamist militant group al-Shabaab. The force is financially supported by the United States, United Kingdom, European Union and United Nations. Victims of the alleged sexual abuse were women and girls from camps located in the Somali capital Mogadishu. They fled from rural parts of the country due to a famine in 2011. Some of the women were looking for medicine for their sick babies at the AU military bases when they were attacked by the soldiers. According to the case report by Human Rights Watch, which is based on the testimonies of 21 women and girls, the soldiers used a variety of different tactics, including humanitarian aid, to force these women and girls into sexual activity. Some of the victims said that soldiers gave them money or food afterwards to make the assaults look like transactional sex. They have also sexually assaulted and raped women who went to Amisom bases in search of water or medical care. Human Rights Watch head in Africa, Daniel Bekele said, "The AU military and political leadership needs to do more to prevent, identify, and punish sexual abuse by their troops. As another food crisis looms in Mogadishu's displacement camps, women and girls are once again desperate for food and medicine. They should not have to sell their bodies for their families to survive." according to The Guardian. A spokesperson for Amisom, Eloi Yao said the "allegations will be properly investigated and measures taken."
