New sex misconduct claims hit UN 
By Susannah Price 
BBC News, United Nations 


The UN has suspended two peacekeepers serving in Burundi following allegations of sexual misconduct. 
An official UN investigation is under way into the incident, which allegedly took place last weekend in Muyinga in the country's north-east. 
The latest allegations come on top of a probe into charges of rape, paedophilia and prostitution involving UN troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo. 
There are currently more than 5,000 UN peacekeepers in Burundi. 
The UN has not released further information on the Burundi allegations, but a spokesperson said the organisation would not waiver from its responsibility to ensure zero tolerance of sexual exploitation and abuse by its personnel. 
Sexual exploitation 
The latest allegations come a month after UN Secretary General Kofi Annan acknowledged UN peacekeeping personnel in DR Congo had been involved in sexual exploitation. 
Mr Annan vowed to root out such practices of gross misconduct throughout the UN. 
Earlier this week, the Washington Post reported that, according to a draft UN report, investigators looking into the allegations in the DR Congo were being obstructed by peacekeepers. 
UN officials say they are investigating some 150 allegations in total and that there is photographic and video evidence for some of them. 
In contrast to previous incidents, the UN has been given credit for attempting to confront the charges about the UN peacekeepers in DR Congo in public. 

Published: 2004/12/17 23:03:31 GMT