DR Congo Rejects Indian Peacekeepers

Following allegations of sexual abuse allegedly perpetrated by Indian peacekeepers earlier this year, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has asked the UN not to send any additional Indian troops to its local peacekeeping mission. In a letter that does not mention India by name, the Congolese government made a reference to “numerous abuses of power carried out by certain troops” within MONUC (the UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC), saying its people would not understand if “soldiers from the same country” were included among the 3,000 new troops that the UN Security Council has voted to send to the country as reinforcements. MONUC is the largest UN missions in the world and has maintained a presence in the DRC since 2001. [PE]