UN silence on child abuse

By John Zarocostas
June 18, 2008
Human Rights Tribune
Original Source: – HYPERLINK https://mail.hudsonny.org/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.humanrights-geneva.info/UN-silence-on-child-abuse,3223 \t _blank http://www.humanrights-geneva.info/UN-silence-on-child-abuse,3223
  
The feeble response by the UN chief, Ban Ki-moon, and the blanket of silence from the international humanitarian community at large to serious allegations of sexual abuse of children by UN peacekeepers and others- has raised concerns in human rights circles. 

  Senior sources close to top UN officials told HRT quite a number of high ranking UN officials are disturbed at the repeated failure of the UN leadership to be more vigilant, and pro-active, in stemming such abuses, and putting a stop to the widespread culture of impunity for many of the perpetrators.
Rape is rape, said in an exasperated tone one human rights expert when asked to comment about the latest allegations made in a report by Save the Children UK which the UN has described as Acts of misconduct.
In a statement issued by his spokesperson, the UN chief states: the abuse of children by those sent to help is a significant and painful issue and one that UN peacekeeping has and will continue to address candidly..
The statement also outlines the UN will continue to depend on its troop and police contributing countries to investigate and discipline their national personnel found to have committed acts of misconduct-such as sexual exploitation and abuse-while serving in the world body’s operations.
Sexual abuse — and especially sexual abuse of children — is a very serious crime. And clearly anyone who can be proved to have committed such a serious crime should be punished under the law — it doesn’t matter who commits the crime, or where it takes place. There should not be impunity. said Rupert Colville, spokesman for the UN Human Rights Commissioner.
We would urge all states to cooperate fully with any investigations into crimes of this nature involving their nationals, Mr. Colville said.
Some international jurists argue, however, that its time to revise the current system that places the responsibility for any action up to the troop contributing countries.
Mr. Federico Andrau, general counsel, with the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) said if national troops act under the flag of the UN, then the UN needs to be body for which they are accountable.
At present, they are only accountable to the tribunals of their countries, he added.
But there are precedents, he noted, where this is not the case as the mixed Sierra Leone-UN tribunal which has given jurisdiction to the court to try peacekeepers when involved in human rights violations.
The Save the Children report concludes that children as young as six are trading sex with aid workers and peacekeepers in exchange for food, money, soap, and in a few cases, luxury items such as mobile phones.
The study also underscores that many incidences of forced sex perpetrated by individuals and groups were cited.
UN peacekeeping troops, it adds, were identified as a particular source of abuse in some fieldwork locations, particularly in Haiti and C’ote d’ Ivoire.
Moreover, BBC world television aired a report in late May which included an interview with a 13 year-year old girl in Cote d’ Ivoire that had been gang-.raped by 10 Pakistani UN peacekeepers, and that no action had been taken against the soldiers.
According to UN officials familiar with the issue, the assessment of some officials in New York was that the Save the Children UK report: is not especially hard on the UN…
But some senior UN officials in internal assessments, of which copies have been obtained by HRT, concur with the report’s findings that there is chronic under-reporting of abuse and that sexual exploitation continues, and argue the global body needs to beef-up its efforts in combating it.