Central African authorities praise Georgia for investigating child abuse report

Georgia is the first country to carry out a local investigation regarding allegations of child abuse by peacekeepers in the Central African Republic (CAR).

CAR Prosecutor General Ghislain Grezenguet and a special investigative team sent by the Ministry of Defence of Georgiato carry out the inquiry met today in the African republic's capital city Bangui to discuss the investigation.

Grezenguet told the Georgian side they would receive full cooperation from relevant CAR offices to establish the facts in the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner (UNCHR) report of child abuse during the 2014 peacekeeping mission in the republic.

The UNCHR report, released in January 2016, cited four girls alleging abuse from soldiers of the European Union force (EUFOR) contingent. This peacekeeping unit included Georgian service members.

Grezenguet met members of the Georgian investigative team today. Photo from the Ministry of Defence of Georgia/Facebook.

The CAR Prosecutor General also praised Georgia for being the first country to provide an investigative team to carry out an inquiry in the region, as well as initiating a study at state offices in the home country.

Grezenguet said the African authorities "appreciated the involvement of the Georgian Government in the investigative process".

Earlier this month Georgia's Defence Ministry sent an eight-person team to the CAR, comprised experts from the Military Police, General Inspection, the Defence Ministry's International Relations Department and other state agencies, and tasked them with investigating the UNCHR report from the site of the allegations.

Looking ahead the Georgian team will meet and speak with alleged victims of the abuse, stage photographic recognition and use other on-site technical tasks to establish the truth.

To ensure the alleged victims are comfortable during questioning, the Georgian team included a psychologist and an expert in international law.

The investigation will take place in a specific area selected by UN agencies and local non-governmental organisations to ensure the full protection of the subjects involved in the study.