Child sex abuse case against French soldiers in Central African Republic dismissed by magistrates

French magistrates have dismissed a case brought against soldiers accused of sexually abusing children during their deployment to Central African Republic, a French judicial source told Reuters. The allegations, which are said to have taken place in 2013-2014, emerged following the leak of an internal United Nations document in April 2015, which contained the testimonies of six children who said they were abused by 13 French soldiers in exchange for rations at a displacement camp in the capital Bangui. Two soldiers from Equatorial Guinea and three from Chad were also implicated in the abuse. It comes after French prosecutors called for the case to be dropped last year, as some of the testimony was deemed inconsistent and some elements could not be confirmed.