A United Nations tribunal ordered the world body to reinstate the whistle blower who revealed allegations of French peacekeepers sexually abusing children in the Central African Republic.  The UN denies that it covered up the allegations.

The tribunal ruled that the suspension of Anders Kompass was unlawful (.pdf link) and that he should be allowed to return to work.  Kompass leaked the report of alleged sex abuse to French authorities, who are now investigating.

“If some soldiers have behaved badly, I will show no mercy,” said French President Francois Hollande last week.

The report said that the French abused boys as young as nine years old, forcing them to perform sex acts in exchange for food.  Soldiers from Chad and Equatorial Guinea were also implicated.

France sent troops into the CAR, its former colony, in 2013.  This was after rebels from the Seleka alliance captured Bangui and ousted President Francois Bozize.  But because Bozize was Christian and the Seleka were from the Muslim north, it quickly broke down into a sectarian struggle.  Revenge attacks against Muslim civilians mounted, and France and other nations sent in peacekeepers before the thing turned into another genocide.