UN probes alleged reprisals in Congo
By Dino Mahtani and Mark Turner 
June 11, 2007
The Financial Times
Original Source: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/5fdda7be-17b7-11dc-86d1-000b5df10621.html

The United Nations is investigating allegations that Bangladeshi peacekeepers beat and killed prisoners in a brutal reprisal for a deadly ambush in the Ituri region of eastern Congo in 2005.
The probe comes two years after an internal inquiry, the results of which were never released, that concluded soldiers had used excessive force during an escape attempt, according to officials close to the case.
The alleged incident took place after UN peacekeepers captured 30 suspected militiamen on February 24 2005, 15 of which were detained by the Bangladeshis.
The next day nine Bangladeshi peacekeepers were killed in an ambush near the town of Ndoki.
On February 27, according to UN accounts, eight prisoners under Bangladeshi control attempted to escape. The peacekeepers opened fire, killing one and seriously wounding another, who is reported to have died later in hospital.
The new investigation is examining allegations that emerged after the first inquiry and is looking at the possibility that the prisoners tried to run away following a severe beating or may have been allowed to leave before they were shot.
It follows a complaint from a former combatant and concerns voiced by Louise Arbour, UN high commissioner for human rights, after she visited the Congo last month.
A UN Congo mission official close to the case said concerns had been expressed by human rights investigators within the mission that the board of inquiry had not fully considered allegations at the time that serious mistreatment was meted out to detainees after the killing of the nine Bangladeshis.
The allegations raise questions over whether the UN paid sufficient attention to its own human rights investigators when they warned there was evidence of mistreatment.
The UN is struggling to negotiate new rules and procedures with member countries.
Troop discipline remains the province of national governments, whose record of follow-up is patchy.
William Swing, an American who runs the Congo mission, ordered the new investigation on May25, this time by the UN's Office of Internal Oversight Services.
Human rights activists are asking why the process has taken such a long time. A UN official who is close to the case has told the FT that, when the original internal inquiry on the detainees was completed in 2005, the report was not sent to UN headquarters in New York or to Bangladeshi authorities as required by usual practice.
A number of officials are keen for these allegations to be aired, but they are nervous about the consequences. One UN official, who asked not to be named, said there was serious frustration that this may not have been properly investigated but it was recognised it could be very damaging for Monuc.
This is going to be a big blow to the credibility of the mission in the eyes of the Congolese government and Congolese people.
The allegations are the latest in a line of scandals in the Congo, where the UN has taken a robust posture in efforts to bring stability to the country after a decade of war, and ahead of elections.
They follow findings of sexual abuse of minors by peacekeepers and allegations in a BBC report last month that Pakistani peacekeepers had traded gold for guns with militias.
The UN insists that since 2005 improved systems have been put in place to curb such activities.
At the same time, Jean-Marie Guehenno, head of UN peacekeeping, told the FT in New York that there were still deficiencies.
We have our own process of investigation. We need that process, in my view, to be much more strongly in sync with the national process of troop-contributing countries, he said.
It would be a very good thing to systematically have human rights officers involved [in investigations]. I have 100,000 personnel; when there is one instance like that being discussed, it does damage to the whole 100,000. It hurts us in the whole world, and in the place we have come to help.
Ms Arbour said when she heard of the events I thought this was a very serious issue. The whole point of my own efforts in the region is to attack the culture of impunity.
Brigadier General Ilyas Rasul, military adviser to the Bangladeshi UN mission, insisted we have refocused and double-focused in our training programme to ensure peacekeepers behave better.
At the same time, he claimed, if you compare the number of [Bangladeshi] troops and the number of incidents, it is negligible.