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UN Performance Problems UN Management Accountability Struggles Where is the Rule of Law? Inadequate UN Oversight Recent Developments
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Refugee Sexual Abuses The longstanding
tradition of UN insistence on immunity (and impunity) for its officials
was introduced in the preceding subsection, along with indications that
some small success may now be beginning to emerge to pierce that
impunity. An area of
particular concern is alleged breaches of international conventions by UN
staff in the field, particularly in the treatment of refugees, women, and
victims of sexual and racial discrimination in UN field operations. It is estimated that
one out of three women in the world experience abuse in their
lifetime. Further, a WHO
study in 2002 found that violence accounts for the death of some seven
percent of all deaths among women aged 15-44, and that in some countries
up to 69 percent of women report having been physically assaulted. The End Violence Against Women website,
at www.endvaw.org , and Jim Lobe, "November 25 launches global mobilization
on violence against women", OneWorld US, November 25, 2002. There are now hundreds
of organizations around the world attempting to deal with this
problem. One particular
aspect -- violence against,
and abuse of, women and girls in humanitarian and peacekeeping programmes,
and especially in refugee camps
-- involves the UN
heavily and very directly.
Yet the Organization seems, in practice, to be taking a rather
dismissive and defensive approach to the problem. Violence against women
in wartime, unfortunately, goes back forever. As UN peacekeeping and
humanitarian missions expand, however, they often encounter this problem
in a very direct and ugly fashion.
Three examples come from Liberia, Yugoslavia, and Mozambique a
decade ago: "[in Liberia in the mid-1990s, under the UN
regional peacekeeping forces] the [U.S.] State Department reported that
soldiers
. engaged in systematic looting
. [and] UN officials reported
observing [their] trafficking in narcotics. While I was in Liberia, peacekeeping forces
were also responsible for sexual violence. In 1996, [we] investigated -- and confirmed -- reports of child prostitution
. in one Ecomog contingent
. trading rice for sex with 9- and -10 year old girls from a nearby
displaced persons camp. Then [another] Ecomog country contingent
arrived. Its soldiers offered
more rice and a little money.
. Soon thereafter, the bodies of young girls
started appearing along the path that led to the newcomers' camp. The girls had been
decapitated
. a message to
the girls that [they shouldn't] frequent the newcomers for a little extra
rice. The United Nations needs to go public with its
oversight, reporting
on the actions of the soldiers sent to Liberia in a vigorous manner. It should place greater emphasis
on fighting corruption.
And it should fully detail the horrifying extent to which
rape has been used as a weapon during the last 14 years." Kenneth L. Cain, "How to save Liberia: Don't count on regional forces, send the Marines", International Herald Tribune, August 11, 2003. [emphasis added] [Note: Mr. Cain was a UN human rights officer in Somalia, Rwanda, Haiti and Liberia, and is one of the authors of the 2004 book, Kenneth Cain, Heidi Postlewait, and Andrew Thomson, Emergency sex and other desperate measures: A true story from hell on earth, Hyperion, New York, 2004. "The responses to allegations of black-market
dealing and drug smuggling among peace-keeping troops in Yugoslavia are
already looking unpromising.
Sylvana Foa, the spokeswoman for the U.H. High Commissioner for
Refugees, found it odd that anybody should be surprised that 'out of
14,000 pimply 18-year olds a bunch of them should get up to naughty
tricks.'" The Spectator, September 4, 1993, p. 5, as quoted in Housang Ameri, Politics of staffing the United Nations Secretariat, Major Concepts in Politics and Political Theory, Vol. 8, Peter Lang, New York, 1996, p. 399. [Note: This particular quote does not mention refugee sexual abuse, but it does state clearly a very dismissive and irresponsible UN attitude toward peacekeeping abuses.] "The United Nations said Friday that some of
its peacekeeping troops in Mozambique had paid for sex with
children. The [Secretary-General's deputy special
representative]
in Mozambique, Behrooz Sadry, who led an investigation
into allegations by relief workers, said at a news conference that some of
the offenders had been repatriated.
[Another special representative], Aldo Ajello,
an Italian, said a 'wrong impression' had been created that only one
contingent of troops was involved.
It would be 'untrue, unjust, and unfair' to keep focusing on the
Italians, he said.
Allegations of UN troops paying for sex with
children aged between 12 and 14 involved the 1,000 strong Italian
'Albatross' battalion. Bangladesh, Botswana, Uruguay and Zambia also
contribute to the force. About 6,000 peacekeepers arrived in Mozambique,
listed by the World Bank as the world's poorest country, after
a peace
agreement [was signed] in October 1992. Mr. Sadry said some offenders had
been repatriated, but he did not know exactly how many. He said he believed that
involvement with prostitution had now stopped." "UN troops in Africa paid for child sex," Reuters, International Herald Tribune, February 26, 1994.
Even more directly,
Erskine Childers and Brian Urquhart foresaw the dangers of human rights
abuses in UN peacekeeping and refugee operations in their 1994 study on
Reforming the United Nations system. They observed
that: "The United Nations has a record of
considerable achievement in the field of human rights even if [too often]
marred by double standards and the influence of power-politics.
This study addresses only the most salient
reform needs. One
important need [deserving]
early attention
is a mechanism for
independently monitoring the compliance of the UN system itself with its
Human Rights mandates.
The greater the UN's involvement in
peace-enforcement and other operations that may employ force, the more
vital it becomes to have transparent and independent human rights
supervision
as much to protect the organization from false or inflated
charges of human rights abuse as to ensure that if these occur they are
properly investigated and reported." Erskine
Childers, with Brian Urquhart, in Chapter X, "The international civil
service", in "Renewing the United Nations System", Development
Dialogue, 1994:1, Dag Hammarskjold Foundation, Uppsala, Sweden,
1994, pp. 105, 111. [emphasis added.] They then made the
following excellent recommendation, which still has not been acted upon by
the UN more than a decade later, but is clearly urgently needed: 3. The General Assembly should appoint an
independent Ombuds-Panel (or equivalent title) on the Human Rights
Performance of the United Nations System.
b.
The Panel should monitor, intermediate, and regularly report on the
compliance of all major entities of the UN System with all Human Rights
instruments. The Panel should
present independent reports on such compliance to the General Assembly,
the relevant executive head having the option of submitting a Note of
Comment. c. On every major UN field mission
comprising military and/or police units, one Ombudsman (with
staff as may be needed) should independently monitor its
work in relation to necessary human rights standards;
intervene when and if necessary; report on incidents,
report overall at appropriate intervals during long
Missions, and report on their
termination." Erskine
Childers, with Brian Urquhart, in Chapter X, "The international civil
service", in "Renewing the United Nations System", Development
Dialogue, 1994:1, Dag Hammarskjold Foundation, Uppsala, Sweden,
1994, pp. 202-203. [emphasis
added.] [Note: This wise but unfulfilled
recommendation is discussed further in the subsequent subsection on Human rights ombudsman under the topic of
Hope for the Future? ] In Bosnia, similar
grave refugee abuse problems occurred more recently, and were not been
really acted upon, as shown by the four following
quotes: "In the five years since international police
officers were sent to Bosnia to help restore law and order, the United
Nations police mission there has faced numerous charges of misconduct,
corruption and sexual impropriety. But in virtually every case, the allegations
have been hushed up by sending officers home, often without full
investigations, according to internal UN reports and interviews
several US officers were forced to resign
under suspicion of having committed statutory rape, abetting prostitution
and accepting valuable gifts from Bosnian officials. Yet none had been prosecuted.
International police officers have diplomatic
immunity from prosecution in Bosnia, and unless their governments waive that
immunity, the most severe punishment the United Nations can impose
on renegade officers is to send them home. According to UN and DynCorp officials [the
contractor] many of the U.S. officers have performed nobly, even donating
money and labor to local charities.
In the town of Gorazde, for example, U.S. officers established a
shelter for battered women. 'The top ten percent of the American contingent
were fantastic' said a former [officer]. 'But the bottom 10 percent made
your eyes water.'
One former
state trooper was wearing a
pacemaker when he arrived.'" Colum Lynch, "UN police in Bosnia: Who's watching:
Allegations of abuse by international officers are said to be hushed up",
International Herald Tribune, May 30, 2001.
[emphasis added] "A British tribunal has ruled that a former
member of the UN police force in Bosnia was unfairly fired
[for
reporting] that colleagues
used women and children as sex slaves in connivance with Balkan
traffickers. The UN officially has not commented on the
case in which
Kathryn Bolkovac
charged that she was fired in 2000
for
[reporting to Dyncorp,
a UN contractor that]
UN police officers from several countries were
linked with prostitution rings.
Bolkovac was posted to Sarajevo in 1999 to
investigate sex trafficking but soon began
[reporting] that UN officials
and international aid workers
frequented bars where girls as young as 15
were forced to dance naked on tables and engage in sex acts with
clients. She also said that UN peacekeepers stood by
while girls who refused to take part in sex acts were beaten and raped by
pimps and that one police officer paid $1,000 to a bar owner for a girl he
kept captive in his apartment.
Bolkovac said she was delighted with the
tribunal's findings because it would help her gain more international
exposure for the problem posed by corrupt peacekeepers." Barry James, "Whistleblower upheld in UN Bosnia police case: Firing of former officer unfair, court rules," International Herald Tribune, August 8, 2002. "
Bosnia-Herzegovina
is considered a center
for international prostitution and sexual slavery as well as a major
transit point to northern Europe. Regionally and globally, the problem Is huge.
Trafficked women from impoverished regions of Ukraine, Romania, Moldava
and other Central and Eastern European countries have been turning up in
the United States as well. [It is estimated that]
700,000 women are
transported, mostly involuntarily, over international borders each year
for the sex trade. As many as
200,000 a year are taken to or through the Balkans.
[An operation to crack down on this
trafficking] focused on Bosnia because, since the war there ended seven
years ago, the presence of thousands of NATO troops and civilian workers
for the United Nations and aid agencies has made it a prime market for
both prostitution and sexual slavery, officials
said.
both NATO soldiers and UN officials
have
been implicated in the exploitation of young women held in sexual
bondage." David Binder, "Bosnia shunning European drive to halt trafficking in women", International Herald Tribune, October 21, 2002. "Traffickers rarely face justice for forcing
thousands of women and girls into prostitution in Bosnia, even though some
serve with the U.N. peacekeeping forces, Human Rights Watch said in a
report today. The women are 'held in debt bondage, forced to
provide sexual services to clients, falsely imprisoned, and beaten when
they do not comply with demands of brothel owners who have purchased them
and deprived them of their passports'
Human Rights Watch said it also found evidence
of involvement in trafficking-related offenses by members of the United
Nations international police force,
which is charged with monitoring
local police. 'Deployed to promote the rule of law, a small
number of [them] instead have engaged in illegal activities, either as
customers
or as outright purchasers of trafficked women and their
passports.
When caught, the only punishment
[they] face
is being sent home, since in Bosnia they enjoy immunity and in their home
countries they are not prosecuted.
[A UN spokeswoman said]
'We have no authority
to try or arrest them. You
cannot blame the U.N. for the failure of the home governments of these
officers to launch appropriate proceedings.'" "Report: Trafficking and forced prostitution are
flourishing in Bosnia", Yahoo! News, November 26, 2002. And a decade after the
quote from Kenneth Cain about grave refugee abuses in the mid-1990s cited
above, the UN had still not risen to the challenge in West Africa, as
indicated in the five quotes below on the reemergence of the same scandals
during early 2002. "The [UNHCR] has sent a team of investigators
into refugee camps in west Africa following [a report by the UNHCR and the
British-based charity Save the Children]
that large numbers of children have been sexually exploited by aid
workers there.
An unspecified number of interviewees
complained that they or their children had to have sex in order to get
food and favours. Over 40 aid agencies -- including the UNHCR itself -- were implicated, and 67
individuals -- mostly local staff -- named by the children.
Some under-age girls said United Nations
peacekeepers
were involved.
The report cited lack of regulation and an
absence of international staff as possible contributing
factors. But it said that poverty was the [principal]
cause, with parents feeling compelled to offer their children to aid
workers for sex in order to survive.
Condoms were rarely said to be used by the
staff involved. 'The very people who are meant to be providing
services are the exploiters themselves' said Save the Children Liberia
country director Jane Gibril.
The charity has already sacked three
employees. A [UNHCR] spokesman said the accusations
were
so far unsubstantiated. " "Child refugee sex scandal", BBC News, 26 February, 2002.
"West African refugee children have described
being sexually exploited by aid workers who offer as little as a few cents
or a biscuit for sexual favors [as reported in the UNHCR/Save the Children
report.] 'It's difficult to escape the trap of those
people; they use the food as bait to get you to sex with them', an
adolescent in Liberia [said.] 'Sometimes they give me things like food, oil,
soap and I will sell them and get money' [said
another.] The girls' comments suggested a climate of fear
fostered by their extreme dependence on aid
personnel. 'In this community no one can access CSB (a
soya nutrient) without having sex first. They say 'a kilo for sex,' a
refugee woman in Guinea told the interviewers. And a man in Sierra Leone said: 'If you do not
have a wife or a sister or a daughter to offer the NGO workers, it is hard
to have access to aid.' Peacekeepers were reported to pay the highest
prices -- ranging from $5 to $300 -- for sex, with stories of several
soldiers clubbing together to have sex with one child."
"Aid for sex children speak out", BBC News, 27
February, 2002. "The revelations in the Save the Children's
report of aid for sex have
startled many Liberians and dominated discussions among the tens of
thousands of Sierra Leonean refugees here during the last 48 hours [in
Monrovia]. [One refugee said] '
as refugees there is
nothing much we can do about it.' He described the acts as ugly, adding that 'our
women and children don't have to suffer themselves and sell their bodies
for food items that are in fact sent for us.'
a Save the Children representative said it was difficult for
people to divert from such
attitudes since punitive measures have never been instituted against those
caught in the act.
Although the refugees I talked to at the
camp
all expressed outrage over revelations in the
report, none of them could
identify themselves as direct victims of the
scandal. 'This is obvious,' one refugee remarked, adding
that 'no-one will want to admit to giving out her body for food even if it
did happen." Jonathan Paye-Layleh, 'African refugees condemn sex abuses", BBC News, 28 February 2002. "U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan expressed
outrage Wednesday over reports of widespread child abuse at the hands of
relief workers in refugee camps in West Africa. [He] reiterated the UN policy of 'zero
tolerance' for such offenses perpetrated by employees or affiliates of the
world body.
According to the latest report, relief workers
in
three countries used 'the very humanitarian aid and services provided
to benefit the refugee population as a tool of exploitation.'
The 19-page UNHCR-Save the Children study
includes testimony from children recorded late last year, during a 40-day
mission. According to the report, most of the alleged
'exploiters' were male national staff and traded humanitarian commodities
for sex with girls under 18.
U.N. peacekeepers were reportedly among the
highest paying customers for sex with children
'The position of power, wealth, and status
enjoyed by peacekeeping personnel gives them the ability to do as they
wish," the study says. In Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, local
people spoke about the behavior of 'the boys in blue helmets" with a
feeling of sadness, according to the report." "UN chief decries child abuse in refugee camps", Thalif Deen, Inter Press Service, February 28, 2002.
"Norway proposed on Monday that future
peacekeeping missions contain ways for children and adults to complain
about sexual abuse by U.N. staff without alleged victims being placed in
jeopardy. The initiative follows last week's allegations
that local staff employed by the [UN] and international relief
organizations sexually abused children in refugee camps in West
Africa. Norway's U.N. Ambassador Ole Peter Kolby, the
current Security Council president, told a news conference that refugees
should have a secure channel to report sexual abuses.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan has ordered an
urgent investigation of the allegations, which he called
shocking." Edith M. Lederer, "Norway: UN needs to address
abuse", Associated Press, March 4, 2002.
The UNHCR/Save the
Children report was a bombshell, but it detonated very slowly, as far as
the UN was concerned. "The U.N. report was a bombshell. In a survey of 1,500 refugees from
Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea last fall,
a three member survey team
implicated 67 people from 40 nongovernmental and U.N. agencies in
extorting sex from 13-to-18-year-old girls. The writers
alleged a 'chronic
and entrenched pattern' of sex abuse in [refugee] camps, adding that
government and U.N. field managers acknowledged the
problem. The
response of the UN has been almost as controversial. First, officials sat on the study
for four months. When the
paper leaked to the press,
the [UN] ordered an investigation.
But the
[head of UNHCR], Ruud Lubbers, disparaged the study,
claiming it was based on 'heresay'
-- even as the U.N. investigation secretly turned up 20 new
allegations of sex abuse.
British relief officials [stated that some] 'NGOs
have been
infiltrated for years by pedophile rings'. Two weeks ago, UNHCR quietly dropped the
contract of veteran U.N. researcher Asmita Naik -- the only one of the
original studys three authors who worked directly for the original
study. Lubbers told
Newsweek
'She will
find good jobs in the world.'
[He] said that the sexual exploitation of refugees is 'not
widespread', adding 'Other
studies like this are superfluous
We are done
now.'" Miriam Mahlow, "Investigations: UNHCR refugee
abuse", Newsweek International, June 24, 2002, p. 5. The OIOS was brought
in to examine the situation, and it eventually produced a report which
seemed to emphasize mostly the hurt feelings of UN
staff. "The United Nations has rejected
allegations that any of its peacekeepers and aid agency workers
have been engaged in the sexual exploitation of refugees in West Africa.
An
[OIOS report says it]
has been
unable to confirm any of the cases of alleged abuse
detailed during an independent investigation last
February. The allegations
involving locally-employed UN
staff in West Africa sent a wave of horror and embarrassed shame through
the entire organization. But now the UN has concluded that the
main allegations are baseless.
a UN spokesman, Dileep Nair, chided those
involved in the original investigation. 'The consultants' allegations of
widespread sexual exploitation by UN aid workers and
peacekeepers cannot be substantiated,' he
said. 'Indeed, we feel the consultants' report
unfairly tarnished the reputation and credibility of a large
majority of UN aid workers and peacekeepers who are out there in
the field.' Mr. Nair acknowledged a handful of
incidents which he said had been properly dealt with, and he
acknowledged that sexual harassment in the camps of West Africa was an
issue. However, he said it was not an issue for which
the aid workers themselves were directly responsible." David Bamford, "UN rejects refugee sex abuse
allegations", BBC News, October 2002. [emphasis added.] In a press conference,
Mr. Nair produced some more conflicting details. "OIOS had only been able to investigate 12
cases fully, none of which had been substantiated. From information gathered
separately, OIOS had identified and fully investigated another 43 cases,
of which 10 had been substantiated.
One case involved a 44-year old [UN] volunteer working with
UNHCR, another a NGO worker
in Guinea, a third a peacekeeper with the [UNAMSIL in Sierra Leone]
The peacekeeper had been
repatriated.
Emphasizing that sexual exploitation was a
significant issue in West Africa and wherever else refugees were in
desperate circumstances
UNHCR
had already made 17 recommendations to
help
in further addressing the issues and following up on cases with
organizations whose employees had been found guilty.
[A] Task Force had developed a
code of
conduct
the code explicitly: prohibited sex with
children under 18; prohibited the exchange of money, employment, goods or
services for sex; called for disciplinary steps, including dismissal, for
violators
; and required staff to report suspected abuses. The code also made clear the
particular responsibilities of managers to support and develop systems
that prevented sexual exploitation. Implementation
was underway
" "Press conference by Under-Secretary-General for [OIOS] ", UN Department of Public Information (DPI), 22 October 2002. A Save the Children UK
official in turn disagreed with the OIOS report, noting for instance OIOS'
own finding that it substantiated 10 of 43 cases of alleged abuse that it
looked at in-depth.
"
'Nothing that the UN has found makes us
think that we were wrong', [Brendan] Paddy said. [They often] simply 'couldn't find the people
concerned, which is the nature of those kinds of transitory, often
fearful, vulnerable populations
Nothing has changed since the first report.
Their experiences show that individual cases are very difficult to
prove. We knew
that.' What was very clear was that this wasn't a few
individuals
it was a very widespread concern right across the
communities
' Paddy said: 'It would be very wrong to assume
that no U.N. staff were involved
the priority has to be to find systems that
can prevent future exploitation and
be implemented across the board.
Public opinion is easily swayed by very
negative reports
donors [have] asked some hard questions, and I think
that's only right. When you
raise money in the way that NGOs do, you have no choice but to be
accountable to the people who support you. This isn't just a question of agencies
protecting their own reputations, its a broader obligation of the entire
aid community to the children of the communities in which they work,'
Paddy said." Ruth Gidley, "UN says refugee exploitation is serious, but not widespread", Reuters Alert Net, 25 October 2002.
A further article in
2003 reflected on the question of what can be done to punish the abusers
in the "sex for food" in West African refugee camps, and noted that the
answer is elusive.
"
nearly a year after the joint report [on
food for sex in West Africa] was first released, not one of the alleged
[UN] abusers
nor any of the supervisory officials responsible for
running the West African camps has been held to account, either before a
national court or in an internal disciplinary proceeding
[UN officials] enjoy immunity from suit
(criminal or civil) in national courts for acts performed in the course of
their official duties.
the
Secretary-General
is empowered to [determine if]
impugned actions fall
within the protected sphere of 'official duties.'
UNHCR [could have] moved forcefully and
swiftly against the alleged perpetrators and negligent managers revealed
in the joint report
Sadly, it did not
[and relied instead on the OIOS
conclusion] that the allegations of widespread abuse were not confirmed
given the rather arrogant and cavalier manner
in which UNHCR treated the victims
in West Africa, and in particular its
abject failure to punish any of those responsible (either intentionally or
through managerial negligence) for the continued base exploitation of
female refugees in their own camps, one would
hope that sooner rather
than later
[a court] (such
as the European Court of Human Rights) will decree the obvious -- that
functional immunity was never intended to be a shield to be used by
international organizations or their officials to avoid legal
responsibility for illegal acts clearly outside the scope of their
official duties." Edward P. Flaherty, "Who will police the caregivers?", in "Borderlines", Lawyers Without Borders, 2003. Other organizations
involved in peacekeeping, such as NATO, are beginning to address this
issue very systematically.
Few
[globalization] problems are more
acute, more devastating to the individuals involved, and yet more within
our power to help eradicate, than the brutal crime of trafficking in
humans. The United States estimates that [annually
some] 800,000 men, women, and children are bought, sold, transported
across national borders and held against their wills for sexual
exploitation or forced labor.
NATOs peacekeeping operations promote
security and stability,
[which includes] steps to protect the helpless
in its areas of operations.
[We are holding an expert conference to develop effective policy
and guidelines]
The United States and Norway advocate that
nations take measures
to ensure that their peacekeepers in NATO-led
operations do not contribute to the problems of trafficked persons. At a
minimum, we encourage
[educating military personnel overseas, pursuing
trafficking evidence in places frequented by NATO personnel, prohibiting
contract employees from knowingly participating in activities related to
trafficking, and having inspector generals regularly evaluate such
efforts.] Mere talk does not save innocent victims from
the modern day slavery and exploitation of human trafficking. Only effective concerted
multilateral action -- the very type of action NATO is
best at -- can do that.
R. Nicholas Burns and Kai Eide, Mission for NATO: An alliance against the traffic in humans, International Herald Tribune, March 4, 2004.
In May 2003 a General
Assembly resolution expressed its "grave concern at incidents of sexual
exploitation and abuse against vulnerable populations
in West Africa and
elsewhere" and called for follow-up actions. In April 2004 the
Secretary-General reported on progress, which included guidelines, field
"focal points", an Inter-Agency Standing Committee, and new field
coordinator responsibilities.
Of 48 UN entities queried, 42 had no cases in 2003; in the others,
there were some cases and some actions taken (including 24 in UNHCR, of
which only 3 led to dismissal action, with 2 still under
investigation. However, the
Secretary-General's report observed that: "
the data gathered
and abuse perpetrated
by personnel affiliated with the [UN] may not reflect the true extent of
these deplorable incidents.
In many cases, victims are reportedly too frightened or ashamed to
lodge a complaint, [or report it but are then confused or
intimidated.] Considerable
additional efforts are required to establish a system within which
misconduct of this kind is systematically reported on and effectively
followed up, while safeguarding the rights of the victims." "Special measures for protection from sexual exploitation and sexual abuse: Report of the Secretary-General", UN document A/58/777 of 23 April 2004, esp. para. 4. The General Assembly resolution is "Investigation
into sexual exploitation of refugees by aid workers in West Africa", UN
document A/RES/57/306 of 22 May 2003. These initial UN
corrective steps were promising, but results so far seem quite modest
relative to the seriousness of the task. IO Watch also wonders about the
true commitment to overcome this very entrenched problem at higher levels:
the responses of Mr. Lubbers in abruptly and sarcastically firing the
author of the initial report (without whose conscientious work
none of the above corrective actions would ever have
happened); and Mr. Nair's value in once again "exonerating"
the managers and senior UN officials concerned. Their actions bear an
uncomfortable resemblance to the longtime apparent inactivity to be found
in UN Secretariat anti-harassment efforts ("You see? No complaints. Everything's OK!").
On that note, however,
IO Watch feels that it must note that allegations of high-level sexual
harassment in the UN itself are in fact now reappearing. The two senior UN
officials recently involved are Mr. Ruud Lubbers, the head of UNHCR, and
Mr. Dileep Nair, the head of the OIOS (see the subsection on Anti-harassment efforts under OHR {Mis-management .) Could there be any
connection between these high-level staff behavioural problems and the
conspicuous Secretariat foot-dragging on refugee sexual abuses, since both
of them are directly involved in dealing with these
scandals? Meanwhile, the abuses
in the refugee camps and war-torn areas go on and on, perhaps even worse
than before despite the UN Secretariat's halting attempts at reform. A new cycle of outside (and
finally some serious inside) reporting of severe violations began in June
2004, accompanied by excellent analyses of the broader issues involved and
actions needed, as indicated by the following articles.
"Liberian girls are still being raped,
exploited and neglected in refugee camps, nearly a year after the end of
fighting in the impoverished West African nation, a watchdog group
reported on Wednesday. 'Sexual violence, rape and many other forms of
abuse
continues today.
Teenage girls, single women and mothers with young children have
been, and still are, the primary targets" said a spokesperson [at the news
conference of the Watchlist on Children and Armed
Conflict.] A survey of Liberian women and girls in refugee
camps in Sierra Leone found that two-thirds had experienced sexual
violence, she said. Homeless girls, whether in Liberia or other
countries, 'are still regularly exposed to rape, gang rape, sexual abuse
and commercial sex work in camps,' she said, adding that soldiers, camp
workers, merchants and even humanitarian workers force them to trade sex
for protection, food and other services. The group called on the Security Council to
heed its own resolutions and ensure that U.N. peacekeepers and U.N.
agencies take steps to protect vulnerable camp residents and set up
mechanisms for complaints to be recorded and acted
upon." Irwin Arieff, "Liberian girls face rape, abuse despite war's end", Reuters AlertNet, 30 June 2004. Even with [worldwide attention to]
western
Sudan,
one brutality apparently has continued undeterred: violence
against Darfurs women. Women were insulted, beaten and raped as their
families were chased from their homes
They continue to be [abused]
as
they try to eke out a living far from home in the miserable camps of the
displaced across Darfur. Whether violence against women constitutes a
war crime or whether it is part of a campaign of genocide remains
unanswered.
For now the victims are left to the whim of
local law enforcement, in which, it is apparent, there is little or no
confidence. Violence against women in this country is not
limited to rape. They are
also verbally abused, threatened, robbed and beaten with whips meant for
animals.
No international legal mechanism has been set
up. Military observers
dutifully take reports of abuse, but all they can do is report the case to
the UN human rights agency.
The evidence on the ground [against Arab
militiamen] has been overwhelming.
[After ten years], only a handful of
allegations of rape have been investigated and prosecuted, according to a
recent report by Human Rights Watch. Somini Sengupta, Rampage of rape in Sudan continues undeterred, International Herald Tribune, October 27, 2004.
Jean-Marie Guehenno, head of United Nations
peacekeeping, has called for a system-wide overhaul of staff discipline
amid mounting revelations of sexual abuse by peacekeepers in the
Democratic Republic of Congo.
The UNs internal oversight arm shortly will
release findings of widespread sexual abuse by peacekeepers in the town of
Bunia. And the UN is sending
a countrywide assessment team to examine reports of other
incidents. [Mr. Guehenno says] That problem has been
there for many years, but as we stir up the pot, we see things coming up
which give a sense of the real dimension
He adds: To say that these are just a few very
isolated cases would not be right.
This is something that requires an effort to be uprooted in a very
systematic way. Mr. Guehennos public call
breaks with a
system that traditionally prefers to deal quietly with such matters. But over recent years the UN has publicly
committed itself to take better account of women in conflict
There are also fears that taking insufficient
action could come to haunt the UN.
[It] has already been rocked by a series of sexual abuse scandals
in West Africa and the Balkans. Mark Turner, Call to act over sexual abuse by UN peacekeepers, Financial Times (UK), November 18, 2004. "Secretary-General Kofi Annan today
acknowledged that United Nations peacekeeping personnel in
Congo -- both
civilian and military -- committed sexual exploitation and abuse, and
vowed to put an end to such practices and hold the perpetrators
responsible. 'I am afraid there is clear evidence that acts
of gross misconduct have taken place. This is a shameful thing for the
United Nations to have to say, and I am absolutely outraged by it' he said
Many of the allegations came to light last
spring, and were looked into by the [UN Congo mission (MONUC)] and by the
[OIOS.] 'I am glad to say that the allegations concern
only a small number of UN personnel.
But it is vital the investigations be speeded up' [Mr. Annan said]
"We cannot rest until we have rooted out all
such practices from MONUC, from any other peacekeeping operation, and
indeed anywhere in the Organization that they might occur. And we must make sure those
involved are held fully accountable." [He] reiterated his position of zero tolerance
toward sexual exploitation and abuse, and voiced determination to
implement this policy in the most transparent
matter.'" "Annan vows to end sex abuse committed by UN mission staff in DR of Congo", UN News Service, 19 November 2004. [Note: Mr. Annan's firm comments and commitments, especially the last two paragraphs cited above, fit very awkwardly with two sexual harassment cases that were concluding at the very same time, in which he exonerated the two senior UN officials involved. See the archive subsection on Anti-harassment efforts .] "It's a perennial problem. War occurs. Women are raped. Reports flood the war zone looking
for raped women. War
subsides. The international
community and the journalists lose interest in women's issues. Women continue to be raped. No one cares.
How can we handle the issue of violence against
women in Darfur differently than the way we dealt with rape in Rwanda,
Bosnia and Kosovo? First, efforts can be made now to report on the
rape of women as a continuous problem.
Violence against women occurs
during war because it occurs during peace.
Second, journalists can [also] report on
male-on-male sexual violence
[which appears] to be a heightened activity
in war.
Third, the international community
can begin
[significant funding]
for long-term programs that work to prevent
violence and rape by targeting violent male behavior as
unacceptable. Fourth, international organizations
can hire
enough women to make up a legitimate 50 percent of their decision-making
staffs [in field missions]
. Fifth, experts on gender-mainstreaming and
sexual and gender-based violence can be hired to immediately begin working
with [refugees and internally displaced persons.]
" Lori Handrahan, "War and rape in Darfur", International Herald Tribune, November 24, 2004. "Hundreds of thousands of women have [been
raped and sexually abused]
in conflicts around the world. From Congo to Columbia, from
Sierra Leone to the Solomon Islands, rape and sexual violence have become
weapons of modern warfare. Throughout history, women's bodies have been
considered the legitimate booty of victorious armies.
In the former Yugoslavia, mass rape was used to
drive entire communities from their homes. In Rwanda, rape and sexual
violence became tools for genocide.
In Afghanistan, abductions, forced marriages and violence against
women and girls are used by warring sides.
Although prohibited under international law,
rape and other gender-based violence during armed conflict are rarely
prosecuted because securing justice for women through national criminal
justice systems is extremely difficult.
High profile international prosecution by the
[International Criminal Court] could deal a strong blow to the prevailing
culture of impunity.
Obviously, that]
must be accompanied by
vigorous actions by governments to introduce or strengthen national laws
that would allow their domestic courts to exercise universal jurisdiction
over rape and sexual violence committed in times of war, so that
perpetrators cannot escape justice no matter where and when they committed
their crimes." Irene Kahn, "Justice for the unacknowledged casualties of war", International Herald Tribune, December 18-19, 2004.
"In the corner of the tent where she says a
soldier forced himself on her, Helen, a frail fifth-grader with big eyes
and skinny legs, remembers seeing a blue helmet. The United Nations peacekeeper
had used a cup
of milk to lure her
'I was so happy', she said. After she gulped it down, [he]
pulled the
12-year old into bed
He [later] gave her a dollar
and pushed her out
of the tent
The United Nations said recently that it had
uncovered 150 allegations of sexual abuse committed by UN peacekeepers
stationed in Congo. .. Fifty countries are represented among the 1,000
civilian employees and 10,800 soldiers who make up the United Nations'
Congo mission.
The UN report details allegations of sexual
misconduct by peacekeepers from Nepal, Pakistan, Morocco, Tunisia, South
Africa and Uruguay
When they arrive for duty, peacekeepers are
presented with the UN code of conduct, which forbids 'any exchange of
money, employment, goods or services for sex.' The home countries are responsible for
punishing their military personnel who violate the code. The United Nations has had previous scandals in Cambodia and Bosnia " Marc Lacey, "In Congo, girls recall blue helmet -- and rape", International Herald Tribune, December 20, 2004. "
Recent allegations of sexual abuses by UN
peacekeepers have shaken [the important UN stabilizing role in war-torn
countries]
Allowing peacekeepers to get away with criminal
conduct compromises UN efforts and guarantees that such abuses will
continue. Before sending a mission abroad, the United
Nations negotiates a Status of Forces Agreement [that, almost always]
deprives local authorities of criminal jurisdiction over
peacekeepers.
Few
[countries would send soldiers]
to countries like Congo if they could
end up in local courts. Prosecution by the ICC is highly unlikely
because its jurisdiction
would probably not apply to sex-abuse crimes by
peacekeepers [which] are most likely random acts by undisciplined
soldiers. The UN [usually] has overall operational and
financial control of a peacekeeping mission.
It is the UN force commander who
has the duty of maintaining 'good order and discipline.' And the UN is responsible for
making sure that those peacekeepers accused of crimes are actually
prosecuted back home. This oversight role can be better accomplished
by closer monitoring over these countries, and by levying of fines against
governments which fail to prosecute their soldiers, or which repeatedly
send untrained and undisciplined soldiers on UN missions.
" Thaddeus Hoffmeister, "Policing those who police the police", International Herald Tribune, January 1-2, 2005. [Note: The author is a US congressional staff member who served as a military lawyer in South Korea and Japan.] "The news [that the UN found]
150 allegations
of sexual abuse committed by its peacekeepers stationed in Congo against
an already traumatized population of mostly teenage girls was a sad
reminder of what young women are up against in Africa.
In Congo, as in other places where endless
war has broken down normal social constraints, innocence is robbed with
impunity, and unrelenting poverty and desperation make old, bitter and
used women out of the young girls. African girls have long lived with the fear of being raped by power-drunk soldiers representing various government or rebel groups. The life of a teenage girl on the continent is almost never easy, and the threats she faces are uncountable, from female genital mutilation to teenage prostitution. | |||
