Peacekeepers accused of child sex abuse in Central African Republic

GENEVA — The United Nations reported Friday “extremely disturbing” new accusations of sexual abuse by European peacekeepers in the Central African Republic, adding to a long-running scandal that has reverberated at the highest levels of the world body.

The U.N. human rights chief, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, called for further investigation of reports that members of an EU peacekeeping contingent had raped two girls and had paid two others for sex.

[...] U.N. human rights officials reported that a 7-year-old boy and a 9-year-old girl said they had been paid by French peacekeepers for oral sex and that they knew of other children who had been repeatedly abused by French troops.

The latest cases, uncovered by investigators in early January, add to concerns about the failure of the United Nations to curb what Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights, called the “constant horror story of allegations” that have dogged international peacekeeping troops.