The French Army and Their Soldiers in Africa Must Tread With Care

The two French soldiers recently involved in the allegation of child molestation and sexual abuse in Burkina Faso have been suspended. This is according to the French defence ministry.
The piece of evidence against these soldiers was a video camera picked up by the father of one of the victims who is a five year old girl. This seems to be evidence that leaves little to debate about as it concerns the guilt or innocence of the accused.
Notwithstanding, the French military police are currently on the case to make a clear investigation.
These soldiers, being part of the 220 troops France has spread across Africa to help fight or check terrorism, should know better than to get involved in any act that undermines the success of the common mission.
There is something perhaps unfairly sensitive and delicate about a foreign troop occupying a country. The trust from the locals is on a premium and an impossibly high standard of professionalism and morality is expected from the foreign troops but they must live up to it if their mission must succeed.
The thinking is thus; if you are sent all the whole thousands of miles from your country to help me live a standard life, then you must be a heck of a great guy with no stain. Any foreign troop needs the full backing and trust of the locals, not only for the overall success of the mission but the safety of their lives.
After a similar incident happened in late 2013 through mid 2014 in the Central African Republic also involving French Soldier -for which fifteen are under investigation- this I'm afraid is wanting to become a trend. The French authorities as I can see recognizes the concern in this and the need to react rightly.
"This is an army that confronts [such accusations] head on," said the army's chief of staff, General Jean-Pierre Bosser.
"Either these cases are true, which would be extremely serious," he said. "Or, they are not proven, which is just as serious [because]... all our soldiers will be perceived as child rapists."
This is what they won't want. What has to be done now is for the trials of those soldiers to be as transparent as possible. If they are found guilty, let the authorities be implacable and if they are not, the transparency of the trial will leave no room for mistrust.
The French government must be commended for sending soldiers to check terrorism in Africa, but the soldiers must also be made to be at their best behaviours else, they become the terrorists.