UN peacekeepers abused minors in Africa, as well as in Bosnia and Herzegovina

The UN announced on Thursday that it is expanding its investigation into the sexual abuse of UN blue helmets in the Central African Republic and that it has informed France, Burundi and Gabon, whose soldiers were involved, reports the Patria agency.

- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is shocked by the latest allegations - said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Husein said that the UN investigation into this matter "must leave no stone unturned".

Dujarric said that UN officials have spoken with 108 alleged victims, the vast majority of whom are minors.

There are dozens of allegations of sexual abuse against soldiers from the UN peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA). France has been investigating the conduct of its soldiers in Operation Sangaris for some time.

UN peacekeepers also raped women during the aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina. The then commander of UN forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lewis MacKenzie, was also accused.

The "Sonja" motel in Vogošća, which Serbian forces, according to UN reports, used as a rape camp for Bosniak and Croat women, was visited in 1992 by the then commander of UN forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lewis MacKenzie, according to eyewitness accounts.

MacKenzie, against whom the Cantonal Prosecutor's Office in Sarajevo launched an investigation and which has testimonies from several women who confirmed that the Canadian general came to the camp, attended, and personally raped prisoners, does not pay attention to this.

-  A lot of time has passed from when I was the commander of forces in Bosnia until the allegations that I raped prisoners appeared. The investigation conducted by the UN cleared me of guilt - MacKenzie commented.

The Sarajevo cantonal prosecutor said of him that he "hides behind the immunity granted to him by the international community," to which MacKenzie replied that the UN decides on the possible lifting of immunity and that he will "certainly respect the UN's decisions."

The "Kon Tiki" restaurant, better known as "Sonja," in the Sarajevo neighborhood of Vogošća, is according to UN reports the most notorious center for the abuse of non-Serb women during the siege of Sarajevo. For example, two girls, aged seven and thirteen, were raped by 20 Serbian soldiers in front of their parents, the UN states, writes Patria.

According to the writings of award-winning journalist Roy Guttman, UN soldiers were regular visitors to the "brothel" run by the Serbs. They were also accused of sexually exploiting Bosniak and Croat women who served as sex slaves. Several surviving rape victims testified that UN members also participated in the abuse against them, writes Patria.