Georgian Ministry Suspends 6 Officials Over Possible Links to UN CAR Abuse

TBILISI (Sputnik) – Six Georgian Defense Ministry officials have been temporarily suspended as the investigation began into the possible involvement of Georgian servicemen in alleged rape and sexual abuse by the United Nations peacekeepers in the Central African Republic (CAR), Defense Minister Tinatin Khidasheli said Friday.

"I received the information from the United Nations last week and straight away gave the military police an order to begin an investigation in relation to this. This is when we made the decision that people who supervised those topics in 2014, including Deputy Chief of General Staff Roman Dzhokhadze, should be temporarily suspended," Khidasheli said.

According to the minister, there is no evidence of Georgian soldiers raping minors, as the United Nations has not provided any documents to the Georgian side.

The Georgian troops have been participating in peacekeeping operations in the Central African Republic since July 2014.

A UN internal report leaked this spring uncovered that French troops deployed in the CAR as part of a 2013 peacekeeping mission subjected boys to sexual abuse in exchange for food and money.