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The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Friday some Sierra Leoneans and Liberians who were detained by authorities and militant youths last weekend for identity screening were beaten and raped.
"UNHCR confirms that it has received first-hand reports from refugees of a number of human rights abuses, including beatings and rapes, some of which were gang rapes," UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond said in Geneva. He said some attacks occurred in detention centres, while others might have continued when people were released.
The New York-based Human Rights Watch first reported the assaults on Wednesday and called on the UNHCR to investigate the complaints. It released testimonies from more than 40 victims, including 10 women who said they were raped.
Up to 5,000 people - mainly from Sierra Leone and Liberia - were rounded up at the weekend following three cross-border attacks from those two countries during the previous week. Guinean authorities said at least 80 people were killed.
UNHCR said it was continuing to investigate reports of abuse of refugees in Guinea. Nearly 500,000 refugees live in the country. About 4,500 are camped at the Sierra Leonean Embassy in Conakry but UNHCR says it will not help repatriate them because of insecurity in their country.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
