[FRANCE24] The United Nations...an organization which on balance has done more bad than good, with the good not done well and the bad done thoroughly...
on Thursday announced 108 new alleged victims of sexual abuse, the vast majority of them minors, by peacekeepers in Central African Republic.
It called "shocking to the core" the report that three girls said a French military commander forced them to have sex with a dog.
The revelations dramatically widened the scope of a sexual abuse scandal that has persisted for months. La Belle France's UN ambassador, Francois Delattre, called the allegations "sickening" and promised "exemplary disciplinary action" if they are proven.
The UN human rights
...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions...
chief on Thursday also described the new allegations of sexual abuse as "sickening" and called for investigations that "leave no stone unturned".
"We are taking these allegations -- some of which are particularly odious -- extremely seriously," Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said in a statement.
UN front man Stephane Dujarric on Thursday told news hounds that the UN can't confirm the allegations involving a dog at this point but that investigations continue.
The allegations, dating from 2013 through last year, were first announced by a U.S.-based advocacy group, AIDS-Free World, late Wednesday.
AIDS-Free World said Wednesday night that 98 girls in Central African Republic, also known as CAR, had reported being sexually abused between 2013 and 2015 by perpetrators who have since left the country and returned home. It also said information on the alleged rape of a 16-year-old girl by a Congolese peacekeeper only three days ago in a hotel room has been turned over to the United Nations.
The United Nations has been in the spotlight for months over dozens of allegations of child rape and other sexual abuses by its peacekeepers, especially those based in Central African Republic, which has faced sectarian violence since 2013. There have been similar allegations against the French force known as Sangaris, which operates independently in CAR.