Envoy to Congo to discuss abuse charges 

By Nick Wadhams
March 2, 2005
Associated Press 
Original Source: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/UN_CONGO_SEX_ABUSE?SITE=RIPRJ&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- The top U.N. envoy to Congo will meet with top officials at the United Nations later this week to discuss his future in light of allegations that peacekeepers sexually abused children there.

William Lacy Swing planned to arrive on Thursday at the earliest, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. Swing and top U.N. officials will also review the measures his office has taken to end the sexual abuse in Congo.

Reports of around 150 allegations of sexual exploitation emerged in early 2004 from Congo. 

Swing and other officials have acknowledged that abuse continued even after investigations were launched into the earlier claims and new measures were taken to clamp down on the practice.
Swing has not been implicated in the sex abuse scandal in Congo. Yet speculation has swirled for days that he is planning to resign or has been asked to step down.

Several U.N. officials have said privately that it is time for change, while a U.S. official said Monday that Swing had tried several times to resign but the United Nations refused. The official said Swing had received the go-ahead to resign and would do so soon.

But nobody has been willing to go on the record about Swing's fate. Swing, currently in Congo, could not be reached for comment.

Dujarric said there had been far-reaching changes in both the civilian and military command structure, but he would not say what that meant for Swing.

In the context of that discussion there will be a discussion on Ambassador Swing's own plans for the future, but at this point he has not resigned, Dujarric said.

The United Nations has sought to confront the allegations of sex abuse in the Congo swiftly, particularly since similar claims have emerged from other peacekeeping missions. The scandal also comes as the image of the world body has taken a beating over allegations staff mismanaged the oil-for-food program for Iraq.

The Congo mission was roiled by new tragedy on Feb. 25, when militiamen in northeast Congo killed nine U.N. peacekeepers. On Tuesday, government forces arrested a top militia commander and two army generals in the slayings.

Also Tuesday, a firefight with U.N. troops killed as many as 60 members of the militia accused of killing the nine peacekeepers, marking an aggressive shift in the way the United Nations is tackling its mission to shepherd Congo toward peace and stability.