United Nations peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have been barred from having sex with locals after reports of sexual abuse of girls as young as 13, the UN announced.
In a letter to the Security Council, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said the ”non-fraternisation” policy has been put in place along with a curfew for military contingents and other measures in the African nation.
”We cannot tolerate even one instance of a UN peacekeeper victimising the most vulnerable among us,” Annan said in a letter on Wednesday. He expressed ”personal outrage” at the DRC revelations.
A report last month by the UN’s internal watchdog said that personnel in Monuc, as the UN’s DRC peace operation is known, had sex with girls in exchange for eggs, packets of milk or cash sums as small as $1 (about R6).
Annan asked for more police and French-speaking investigators ”with special skills in sexual exploitation and abuse cases” to help in the DRC.
”As the organisation actively works to root out this problem, we must leave no stone unturned,” he said.
Annan said he has sent Angela Kane, a UN assistant secretary general, to the DRC for more enquiries and warned that her work will likely lead to a short-term increase in abuse allegations.
”We will not refrain from holding accountable those in the entire chain of command who fail to act decisively to enforce the zero-tolerance standard,” the UN chief said.
The UN has no standing army of its own and relies on contributions of troops and civilian personnel from member nations.
The world body has little leeway for dealing with wrongdoing by peacekeepers except to send them back to their countries of origin.
The DRC operation is the largest of the UN’s peacekeeping missions around the world. — Sapa-AFP