African peacekeepers accused of rapping women and children in Darfur

April 2, 2006 (LONDON) — According to the UK Channel 4 TV, women and children in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region had being raped by members of the African Union peacekeeping forces.

In a video report by Channel 4, interviewed women said AU forces committed large-scale abuses in the region.

The channel informed the AU command of these allegations but they denied such abuses.

Following the text of Channel 4 news report:

Women and children in Darfur claim they have been abused by the very guards who are meant to be protecting them.

Since 2004, the fragile peace in Darfur has been monitored by troops from the African Union.

But More4 news has uncovered evidence that some of the soldiers overseeing the ceasefire are now exploiting the women and children they were sent in to protect.

This weekend, the United Nations promised to speed up moves to send its own peacekeepers to the war torn region.

Our reporter Nima Elbagir travelled to Geraida in Southern Darfur, where girls as young as 11 said they had been threatened and coerced into sexual acts by soldiers.

We showed our report to the African Union command in Sudan. They told by More4 news that the claims were “horrible but not true”. The United Nations were unable to comment.

– To read more and watch the video report, please go at http://www.channel4.com/more4/news/news-opinion-feature.jsp?id=197

(ST)