UN peacekeepers again accused of sex abuse

The United Nations is investigating a suspected child prostitution ring involving its peacekeepers and government soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the UN mission said yesterday.

Among accusations being investigated is that pimps are using the presence of UN peacekeepers to lure vulnerable girls to go and work as prostitutes in areas of South Kivu where they are deployed, the mission said in a statement.

The UN's 17,000-strong mission MONUC, which is backing a string of peace deals in the vast African nation following a 1998-2003 war and helping to run elections, has been hit by a series of sex scandals and last year banned sex with locals. "Although the majority of their patrons are Congolese soldiers and civilians, some of the girls involved mentioned that elements of MONUC contingents based in the region were also among their clients," the statement said.

"MONUC takes these allegations very seriously and has expressed extreme shock at the testimonies of the victims of this illegal activity," it added.

The UN mission said it had launched a special investigation into the allegations and stressed that there would be "zero tolerance" of sexual abuses by its troops.

Last year, the UN barred peacekeepers in Congo from fraternising with local people after investigations found some soldiers and civilian staff were guilty of rape and paedophilia including enticing hungry children with food or money in exchange for sex.

But earlier this year, a UN diplomat responsible for monitoring how the world body was tackling the problem said sexual abuse charges against UN peacekeepers remained unacceptably high due to a persistent "culture of dismissiveness" in UN field missions.

"MONUC will work in close collaboration with its local partners to fully investigate the matter, contribute to the eradication of this prostitution ring and to the arrest of its backers by the Congolese authorities," the UN said yesterday.

Despite the presence of the world's largest peacekeeping mission, simmering violence continues in Congo's east where local and foreign rebel groups still roam three years after the war officially ended. Government army units are also chaotic.

Factbox

The United Nations has 18 peacekeeping missions with over 85,000 staff from more than 100 countries. UN peacekeeping forces were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1988 and more than 2,000 UN troops have died in missions since 1948. UN peacekeepers have been dogged by allegations of sexual abuse for years.

Scale Of The Problem
The United Nations ignored sexual exploitation by peacekeepers and other field staff for decades and only launched a crackdown two years ago, after reports of abuse surfaced in West Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Last year, there were 340 complaints of sexual exploitation by peacekeeping personnel, 209 of them in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the largest UN peacekeeping mission.

Action By United Nations
A 2005 UN report recommended an overhaul of the world body's peacekeeping operations. It recommended that soldiers be punished for any sexual abuse, their pay docked and a fund set up to assist any women and girls they impregnated. Between 2004 and last May, the United Nations investigated sexual exploitation allegations against 307 peacekeepers, with 16 civilians dismissed and 155 uniformed personnel sent home.

Major Cases
Burundi - Two Ethiopian UN peacekeepers were fired in July last year for having sex with prostitutes and minors.

Liberia - The United Nations in April last year substantiated allegations of sexual abuse by peacekeepers.

Kosovo, Serbia - Human rights group Amnesty International said in May 2004 that police and troops of the UN Mission in Kosovo and Nato-led peacekeepers fuelled growth of Kosovo's sex industry based on trafficked women.

East Timor - Peacekeepers were accused of rape and prostitution, but no one charged. A UN report said peacekeepers abandoned at least 20 babies fathered there.

Sierra Leone - A 2002 study found some peacekeepers were involved in the sexual exploitation of refugee children.

Sources: Reuters; UN Department of Peacekeeping (www.un.org)