Posted on 11/24/2004 8:02:57 AM PST by DRILL SGT. D
UN: 150 Sex Abuse Charges in Congo Peacekeeping
Mon Nov 22, 8:43 PM ET
By Evelyn Leopold
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations (news - web sites) is investigating about 150 allegations of sexual abuse by U.N. civilian staff and soldiers in the Congo, some of them recorded on videotape, a senior U.N. official said on Monday.
The accusations include pedophilia, rape and prostitution, said Jane Holl Lute, an assistant secretary-general in the peacekeeping department.
Lute, an American, said there was photographic and video evidence for some of the allegations and most of the charges came to light since the spring.
"We are shining a light on this problem in order to determine its scope, and we will not stop there," Lute told a news conference.
She did not say if 150 different people were involved but indicated some suspects committed more than one offense.
In May the United Nations reported some 30 cases of abuse among peacekeepers in the northeastern town of Bunia, where half of the more than 10,000 soldiers are stationed.
Last month, one French soldier and two Tunisian soldiers were sent home, U.N. officials said. Three U.N. civilian staff were suspended.
The United Nations has jurisdiction over its civilian staff but troops are contributed by individual nations. Consequently, the world body has only the power to demand a specific country repatriate an accused soldier and punish him or her at home.
Jean-Marie Guehenno, the U.N. undersecretary-general for peacekeeping, went to the sprawling central African country, formally called the Democratic Republic of the Congo, last month. He has promised an overhaul of staff discipline.
REPORT ON ABUSE
The U.N. internal oversight office is expected to release a report soon on the abuse in Bunia. In addition, the peacekeeping department is sending at least two other teams to Congo to deal with various aspects of the problem, Lute said.
Also visiting the Congo within the past month was Jordan's U.N. ambassador, Prince Zeid Ra'ad Al-Hussein, who serves as a special adviser on sexual exploitation. One of his tasks is to persuade governments to act on charges against their soldiers.
The prince, a former military man, served as a political affairs officer for the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Bosnia, from 1994 to 1996.
The United Nations mission in the Congo has some 10,800 peacekeepers and some 60 civilian staff, led by American diplomat William Lacy Swing.
The revelations of peacekeeping abuses is usually kept quiet at the United Nations until reporters or individual countries disclose the news, as happened in Cambodia in the early 1990s and later in Somalia, Bosnia and Ethiopia. But in this case the world body released some details.
Annan on Friday expressed outrage at the abuse, saying, "I am afraid there is clear evidence that acts of gross misconduct have taken place."
"This is a shameful thing for the United Nations to have to say, and I am absolutely outraged by it," he said while in Tanzania where Guehenno briefed him.
No, this is excusable. You can't indict the U.N. as an entity for the misdeeds of their employees, especially since the U.N. itself brought this to light, right?
1--The U.N. didn't bring this to light until it was leaked by the press. 2--Halliburton told the government of the overcharging going on within their organization, without media prompting I might add, but they're still evil.
Also take a look at http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1285609/posts for the movement to kick the U.N. out of the U.S.
French soldiers involved again? Another scandal for France since Ivory Coast.
Well, since they hold Bush responsible for Abu Grab, does that mean that Kofi Annan will be held responsible for all this?
Yes, I don't really know the details, but the Congo is full of all kinds of mineral wealth and I suspect the French are there to help stir up trouble and enrich themselves.
I imagine that the UN, when it's not busy with corruption of various kinds, probably fights on the wrong side too.
I expect to see this a front page story for 43 consecutive days at the NY SLIMES.
The solution is simple: The U.N. should just let their civilian staff marry. Obviously it can only be their vow of celibacy and lack of sex that causes such tendencies...
oh wait, I thought we were talking about Catholic priests </sarcasm>
And we all know how that turned out.
"I am afraid there is clear evidence that acts of gross misconduct have taken place."
Yes, I guess that is going to be hard for Kofi to ignore, certain and clear evidence, turned over to the public.
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