Official concern over sex case and HIV/AIDS

The Eritrean government has expressed concern over allegations of sexual abuse by a UN peacekeeper of an underage girl, and said that justice must be done either under national or international laws. The commissioner for coordination with the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea, Andeberhan Woldegiorgis, said in a letter to the special envoy of the UN secretary-general, Legwaila Joseph Legwaila, that Eritrea was anxious to probe a report which recently appeared in the Italian media, official Eritrean radio said. It was referring to a report alleging that some members of the Italian peacekeeping soldiers in Eritrea had had sex with child prostitutes. Andeberhan said the alleged report “which had appeared in the media was of great concern to the Eritrean government”.

According to the letter, the Eritrean government had asked for HIV/AIDS tests to be carried out on all UN peacekeeping soldiers, “but the directives had not been implemented by the UN peacekeeping soldiers... This has been another issue of concern to the Eritrean government,” the radio report said on Wednesday. UNMEE has said in an official statement that it considers the allegations concerning sexual abuse very serious, and said it will conduct an investigation. “The Mission has zero tolerance towards such acts and will do its utmost to quickly and thoroughly establish the facts.”