KINSHASA (Dispatches) - Eight UN peacekeepers in Democratic Republic of Congo have been detained over allegations of sexual abuse, sources said on Thursday, as the UN said it would investigate unspecified serious misconduct.
The UN peace-keeping mission in eastern Congo, known as MONUSCO, said in a statement that it had suspended a number of its peacekeepers in response to reports of the misconduct, without giving further details.
A UN source and a Congolese security source said the allegations concerned eight South African peacekeepers in the eastern city of Beni.
“We have been informed by our UN counterparts that eight South African peacekeepers have been detained over accusations of sexual abuse,” said the security source in Beni.
The measures include suspension from duty and confinement to quarters pending an investigation, it said.
The UN peacekeeping mission in Congo, which was initially established during a civil war that lasted from 1998-2003, has some 17,000 personnel deployed in the east of the country where various militias and rebel groups continue to fight.
The world body is taking action against misconduct by peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a UN spokesman said on Thursday.
“The UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC has taken robust action in response to reports of serious misconduct, including sexual exploitation and abuse as well as assault by UN peacekeepers,” said Stephane Dujarric, chief spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
He said the mission dispatched military police accompanied by conduct and discipline personnel to the bar to investigate. When the military police attempted to detain the peacekeepers for breaching UN standards of conduct and MONUSCO’s non-fraternization policy, the peacekeepers physically assaulted and threatened the mission personnel.

Niger Junta Orders Top UN
Official to Leave the Country

Niger’s junta has demanded that the top United Nations official there leave the country within 72 hours over accusations that Niger was excluded from the annual UN gathering of world leaders in New York last month.
In a statement dated Oct 10, Niger’s foreign ministry accused the UN of using “underhanded maneuvers” instigated by France to prevent its full participation in the high-level UN General Assembly meeting last month and in subsequent meetings of UN agencies that were held in Vienna and in Riyadh.
As a consequence, the government has ordered UN resident coordinator Louise Aubin to leave, said the statement.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres deeply regrets the move, said his spokesman Stephane Dujarric, reiterating “the unwavering commitment of the United Nations to stay and deliver for the people of Niger.”