Côte d’Ivoire: UN responding to allegations of sex abuse by peacekeepers
1 September 2011 – The United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) is looking into recent allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse involving its peacekeepers based in the west of the country.
“If these allegations are founded, it would be the responsibility of the countries from which these peacekeepers come to take appropriate action against those involved,” the mission said in a news release issued in the commercial capital of Abidjan, where it is headquartered.
After receiving the allegations two weeks ago, the mission immediately informed the relevant offices at UN Headquarters in New York so that the troop-contributing countries concerned – which were not named publicly given the ongoing nature of the investigation – could be informed.
The US cable released by Wikileaks is from January, 2010, which means the crimes occured in 2009 or before. The troops from Benin were all sent home months ago and Benin is not allowed to participate in UN missions until the issue is resolved. Obviously, the UN was aware of this long before two weeks ago.
So the UN is eager to stick its nose into my right to armed self-defense, what kind of vehicle I drive, and whether my state can execute murderers, but it won’t get involved in supervising its own rapist-piecekeepers.
You’re right. That’s a level of hypocrisy of which even al Gore or a Kennedy would be in awe.