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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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"Eighteen months
after Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo agreed to stop fighting,
[they]
are again on the verge of war.
The UN peacekeeping force in Congo
(MONUC), the world's largest, is supposed to be disarming [genocidal
Rwandan rebels there]
, but has failed to neutralize them.
' Indeed, since MONUC was first
deployed to Congo in 1999, it has consistently failed to keep anyone in
the region safe.
MONUC's chiefs have [10,000
troops, to be expanded to 16,000, but] military experts guess [they need]
about 50,000. Why then, is
the UN in Congo at all?.
Whom does it
deter?
It would be hard to exaggerate
the UN's unpopularity. Some
Congolese
throw lumps of mud at passing UN patrols.
'Is MONUC here to
do anything apart from count the bodies?" asked a Congolese witness.
Morale among the blue helmets is
not high. Many regard their
posting to Congo as the height of misfortune. Some are ashamed to be part of
such an indolent force.
During massacres in Ituri's main town of Bunia last year, some
Uruguayan peacekeepers suffered nervous breakdowns after watching
atrocities they had been ordered not to prevent."
"Congo, Rwanda, and the UN" Is this the world's least effective UN peacekeeping force?", The Economist, December 4th, 2004. "The United Nations is not simply
a reflection of its major members, but a vast organization with a distinct
culture and code -- one in desperate need of repair.
But real reform means realistic
reform, not more fantasies.
U.N. peacekeeping is particular needs fundamental rethinking. If countries will not sanction a
force robust enough to do the job, then the U.N. should have the courage
to refuse the mission.
This sounds cruel but, really, how is it
different from what is happening right now? What exactly are U.N. forces doing
in Congo? At least in Sudan
there is no pretense of an international effort to stop the savagery.
Whatever the U.N. might say about
the rules of engagement and who drew them up, the reality on the ground is
that when the U.N. goes into these grim parts of the world, people see the
blue helmets and U.N. flag and believe that help has arrived. By its very presence the United
Nations is offering hope -- and it is cruel to offer false hope.
If we will not help these
people, let us at least not lie to them." Fareed
Zakaria, "When the UN fails, we all do", Newsweek International,
December 13, 2004, p. 15.
"Kofi Annan, the UN
secretary-General, has two problems -- the Bush administration's
continuing annoyance with the United Nations and the organization's
actual, pressing problems in fulfilling its key
missions. So, Annan is doing the right thing
by planning further management changes
Major shakeups are needed in
critical areas like peacekeeping and refugee assistance.
... Helping the poor and desperate
demands strengthening the management of peacekeeping operations. Some kind of appalling nadir was
reached last month with reports that members of an international
contingent of UN peacekeepers in Congo had been raping the young girls
they had been sent to protect.
Annan and his staff must spare no effort to see that these crimes
are prosecuted and punished.
Further steps must be taken so that adequately armed and trained
troops are quickly available to back up truce agreements in the world's
multiplying trouble spots ... Given the unremitting hostility of
the Bush administration, the survival of the United Nations as an
effective organization cannot be taken for granted. Annan will have to challenge the
self-protective bureaucracy more radically than it has ever been
challenged."
"Housecleaning at the UN", International Herald Tribune,
January 12, 2005. "I recall the day in 1960 when the UN took
charge of the Congo
after the Belgian colonial government had hastily
evacuated, triggering massacres.]
Various European powers were ready to move in to restore order and
save lives, but ['world opinion'] deemed that only the UN could do the
job, as it was the only body with 'clean hands.' That was 45 years ago, and the UN has been
involved ever since. The
fighting has continued -- flaring up and dying down, with no end in
sight. It's estimated that
about 5 million have died. UN
secretaries-general have come and gone (one was killed in the Congo), but
the UN 'mission' grinds on, expensive and totally
ineffective. The Congo is only one of scores of failed UN
missions in Africa alone.
These failures don't seem to be taken very seriously by top UN
bureaucrats. For example
,
Boutros Boutros-Ghali,
[mentioned in the current UN oil-for-food
scandal, replied that ]
'There are a lot things that I am responsible
for that were ten times worse than this, such as the genocide in
Rwanda.' That is, when you think about it carefully, an
amazing remark to make." Paul Johnson, "The
UN is for talk, not actions," Forbes (US), March 14,
2005. {Note: Mr. Johnson
is an "'eminent British historian and author."]
"The United Nations controversial peacekeeping
operation in eastern Congo has received a further blow
[An internal report,]
obtained by the
Financial Times, charged that UN troops had not been tough enough
in defending against renegade Congolese Army commanders
It said this
inaction called into question the 'very purpose of the mission' and
'emboldened potential enemies of Monuc [the peacekeeping mission]'
[which] threatened the shaky peace process
Among its criticisms, the report cited poor
leadership, misleading statements by the mission and the failure of a
commander to follow orders
The failure of the mission to use force during
the crisis 'smeared the mission with the taint of impotence and
cowardice', said the internally-commissioned report, and gave the
perception 'that it had again failed the Congolese people at a critical
moment.' Monuc
the UN's most expensive peacekeeping
operation,
has been widely criticized for incompetence, for failing to
protect civilians, and becoming mired in sex scandals.
A number of senior officials have since left Monuc, but William Swing, the political head, remains in place. In February there were reports that he would resign, but the UN later said he would complete his term." Andrew England, "UN report accuses peacekeepers of failing the Congolese people", Financial Times (UK), March 23, 2005.
"A U.N. report on peacekeeper sex abuse
released Thursday describes the U.N. military arm as deeply flawed and
recommends withholding salaries of the guilty and requiring nations to
pursue legal action against perpetrators. [The report] said abuses had been
reported in missions ranging from Bosnia and Kosovo to Cambodia, East
Timor, West Africa and Congo.
While allegations of abuse have dogged peacekeeping missions since
their inception 50 years ago, the issue was thrust into the spotlight
after the United Nations found [renewed problems in the Congo] earlier
this year.
One of the tasks of [Prince Zeid al Hussein,
Jordan's U.N. ambassador and author of the report], was finding ways to
hold peacekeepers more accountable
With the United Nations burdened by scandals
in the [Iraq] oil-for-food program and allegations of sexual harassment by
U.N. staff, officials have sought to deal with the peacekeeper sex abuse
issue quickly.
Zeid set 2007 as a target date to complete many
of his recommendations
"Parliaments, and especially those legislatures
of the largest contributors to the U.N. peacekeeping budget, may feel ill
at ease over continuing to extend support to peacekeeping in the absence
of any significant change,' Zeid said." "U.N. report:
Peacekeeping ops troubled," Associated Press, March 24,
2005.
"
The annual U.N. peacekeeping budget is
currently $4 billion to cover 17 global missions. [The]
75,000 U.N. personnel in
the field now
will grow to about 90,000 by mid-2005 because of Sudan.
Jean-Marie Guehenno, [head of U.N.]
peacekeeping operations said [concerning the allegations of abuse]
"Across the board, doctrine
training and leadership need to be
strengthened, or we will simply be unable to cope with the weight of
responsibility with which we are now charged'
'[adding] that the U.N.
should have a basic framework of policies and guidelines on this issue in
place by the end of 2005.
Many say more needs to be done to make sure the
police and troops being sent on missions don't have a history of sexual
abuse or any other type of shady past.
This week [Kofi Annan] reiterated a 'zero
tolerance' policy on sexual offenses. But [a US congressman] said: 'The biggest
problem we've had in this is zero accountability
'zero tolerance' has
equaled 'zero compliance' and that has got to end.' [He] has sponsored a bill
[to ensure UN preventive
measures]
before any U.S. peacekeepers are sent on
missions." Liza Porteus, "U.N.
not at peace with its 'Blue helmets'', Fox News, March 24,
2005.
"The UN mission [Monuc}
in Congo has been
incessantly lambasted for failing to protect civilians.
. Since December, fighting has
displaced more than 80,000 people.
Monuc has recently given an indication that is
may finally be gaining teeth.
In the past, UN troops failed to intervene as
militias or renegade soldiers slaughtered civilians and captured towns
[A] damning report, which analysed the UN's
abysmal response to an attack on Bukavu in 2004, accused Monuc's
leadership -- headed by William Swing, an American former ambassador -- of
numerous failings, implying incompetence at all levels. Mr. Swing remains
in office, but other senior officials
have left. Says one UN official, 'It's now or
never. There cannot be
another Bukavu, or Monuc packs up and goes.'
Says Ross Mountain, the newly appointed deputy
head of mission
'Certainly there was a recognition we had to be very
much more focused on achieving results.'
But the task will not be easy and the 5,000 UN
troops in Ituri, a huge area, remain a tiny presence and lack decent
intelligence
Whether they are serious remains to be
seen." Andrew England, "UN soldiers talk tough in attempt to pacify Congo", Financial Times (UK), March 29, 2005.
Note: Detailed information about a very serious past and current UN peacekeeping problem is contained in the archive subsection on Refugee Sexual Abuses. Useful Sources
Power, Samantha,
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Independent International Commission on Kosovo, September 2001. |
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