UN Civilian Worker In Dr Of Congo Accused Of Child Molestation
A French civilian member of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has
been accused of child molestation and is being held by French justice officials, according to a joint United Nations and
French statement.
The individual in question has been handed over to his country's authorities after he was transferred Friday night to
Kinshasa by the UN Organization Mission in the DRC (MONUC) for security reasons, said the statement, issued yesterday by
MONUC and the French Embassy.
"From Sunday morning, 31 October 2004, he has been in the hands of the French justice system," which, under national and
international law, has jurisdiction over all violations of the laws protecting minors committed by French citizens
living overseas, it said.
Last Wednesday, MONUC spokesman Mamadou Bah said two UN peacekeeping soldiers from Tunisia had been repatriated for
sexual abuse against women in Kinshasa.
Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's adviser on the matter, Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al-Hussein of Jordan, had
visited the eastern DRC province of Ituri to follow a multidisciplinary UN investigation of allegations of sexual abuse
against MONUC's civilian and military peacekeeping personnel, Mr. Bah said.