A team of investigators from the Ministry of Defence of Georgia will travel to the Central African Republic (CAR) tomorrow to attend an inquiry into allegations of child sexual abuse by peacekeeping troops.
The team will be comprised of eight experts from various offices and will depart Tbilisi on June 4.
Employees from the Military Police, General Inspection, Ministry's International Relations Department and other state agencies are part of the group that’s tasked to investigate the allegations of abuse, which stem back to 2014.
The specific procedures and topics of their investigation will be determined after their arrival in the CAR, the Defence Ministry said.
The Ministry has been cooperating with the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner (UNCHR) since the latter's report in January 2016.
The report concerned alleged abuse of children by members of Georgian peacekeeping troops in the CAR in 2014.
The High Commissioner's report also stated members of Georgian and French contingents within an EU force were among the alleged offenders.
Following the report, staff overseeing Georgia's involvement in the CAR mission were suspended by Georgia's Defence Ministry while investigations into the matter were ongoing.
The six dismissed staff were not accused of committing the alleged child abuse; they were in charge of the entire Georgian peacekeeping mission in the CAR.