The United Nations Security Council has condemned sex abuse by peacekeepers for the first time, after hearing from the head of an inquiry into abuse that member nations have ignored the problem for years.
Jordan’s UN Ambassador Prince Zeid al Hussein said no nation in the history of UN peacekeeping was blameless. That, he said, should make it easier for them to come forward and punish troops who commit abuses.
He said countries have not come forward to admit what their troops had done because of ”sentiments of pride mixed in with embarrassment”.
Abuses have been reported in peacekeeping missions ranging from Bosnia and Kosovo to Cambodia, East Timor, West Africa and the Democractic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The issue was thrust into the spotlight after the United Nations found earlier this year that peacekeepers in the DRC had sex with Congolese women and girls, usually in exchange for food or small sums of money.
In a statement read by Denmark’s UN Ambassador Ellen Margrethe Loj, the council president, the Security Council condemned sexual abuse committed by UN peacekeepers and reiterated ”that sexual exploitation and abuse are unacceptable and have a detrimental effect on the fulfillment of mission mandates”.
The statement, however, noted that ”with few exceptions, the women and men who serve in UN peacekeeping operations do so with the utmost professionalism, dedication, and … in some cases make the ultimate sacrifice.”
The council statement confirmed that combating sex abuse is the responsibility of troop contributing nations, but that Secretary General Kofi Annan and all member states must also take efforts to prevent such misconduct.
Jean-Marie Guehenno, undersecretary-general for peacekeeping, warned on Tuesday that new measures to uncover and clamp down on peacekeeper sex abuse will probably lead to a spike in allegations as new accusers come forward before the scourge begins to fade.
”The problem of sexual exploitation and abuse is likely to look worse before it looks better,” Guehenno said, later adding: ”If something happens in a battalion, of course it’s shameful for the person who committed the crime. It’s not a shame that the country takes action.”
Guehenno has been working for months to strengthen the UN response to sexual abuse.
In late March, Prince Zeid al Hussein wrote a report that described the UN military arm as deeply flawed and recommended withholding salaries of the guilty and requiring nations to pursue legal action against perpetrators.
Briefing the council before Guehenno, Zeid said that since December 1, there have been 152 investigations into peacekeepers. Of them, five UN staff have been dismissed, while 77 military personnel and national policemen on missions have been sent home for disciplinary reasons.
”For a peacekeeper to exploit the vulnerabilities of a wounded population, already the victim of all that is tragic and cruel in war, is really no different than a physician who would violate the patient entrusted to their care or the lifeguard who drowns the very people in need of rescue,” Zeid said. – Sapa-AP