The African Union (AU) has dismissed as unfounded a report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) that accused African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) peacekeepers of sexually abusing Somali women at their bases.

The report, released this week, urged troop-contributing countries to the Mission and its donors to "urgently address these abuses and strengthen procedures inside Somalia to seek justice.”

The report has potentially stained the troop-contributing countries, the bulk of whom come from six countries; Uganda, Burundi, Djibouti, Kenya, Ethiopia and Sierra Leone.

In a statement released yesterday, the AU reiterated that the report’s portrayal of the Mission and the general conclusions drawn from the allegations against it constituted a misrepresentation of the "sacrifices, achievements and genuine commitment of Amison.”

"Firstly, the HRW report uses a small number of cases to arrive at a generalised conclusion. The HRW report claims that it has documented 21 cases of sexual exploitation and rape. It further states that a single soldier carried out most of these acts,” AU said in a statement.

"The generalisation contained in the report does not reflect the highest professional standards with which the overwhelming majority of Amisom uniformed personnel have continued to discharge their responsibilities.”

The organisation added that the allegations will be thoroughly investigated, and appropriate measures will be taken if they are found to be true, in accordance with the "African Union’s zero-tolerance policy on this matter.”

With the approval of the United Nations, Amisom was created in 2007 by the African Union’s Peace and Security Council with a mandate to keep peace in Somalia and support transitional governmental structures.