15 January 2018•Update: 15 January 2018
By Hajer M'tiri
PARIS
Investigating magistrates closed a probe into child rape allegations against French soldiers during a peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic (CAR) in 2013 and 2014, local media reported on Monday.
According to French radio Europe 1, the magistrates concluded there was no evidence that the soldiers had committed the abuse. The decision comes in response to a state prosecutor's request made last year for the case to be closed.
French prosecutors first launched the probe in May 2015 after the CAR government said it would launch its own legal action against 14 soldiers who were accused of committing sexual violations against six children.
The French Defense Ministry also said at that time a preliminary investigation had been opened into the rape allegations when they were first received in July 2014.
The case was brought to public attention by British newspaper The Guardian on April 29, 2015 which referred to a classified UN report on sexual violations committed by French troops in CAR.
The report said the incidents had occurred in the summer of 2014, referring to the rape of numerous underprivileged children in the CAR.
France ended the Sangaris mission in Oct. 2016 and withdrew most of its 2,000 troops, leaving some 350 soldiers to provide back up to the UN Multidimensional Stabilization Mission in Central African Republic (MINUSCA).
