The United Nations must end immunity for personnel on peacekeeping missions who are suspected of engaging in sexual exploitation and abuse, says a news release from the Code-Blue campaign.
Tens of thousands of cases
A recent study largely funded by the Swedish government indicated that in Liberia alone, as many as 58,000 women had traded sex with peacekeepers in return for money, food, or clothing. Any sexual activity between peacekeepers and local populations is strictly prohibited by the U.N. but it has been reported in several countries including the Central African Republic, Haiti, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Peacekeepers appear to be ‘untouchable by the law’
By statutes passed in 1946, UN personnel are granted immunity from prosecution in the countries in which they serve. This was originally instituted to shield them from harassment.
“It (immunity) has given the general public, the peacekeeping personnel, militaries…the impression that peacekeepers can do whatever they want,” says Paula Donovan, co-director of AIDS-Free World which launched the Code Blue campaign on this problem.
“It gives the impression that they can behave however they want because they are untouchable by the law.”
ListenUN teams intervene, but slowly
Currently if there is a complaint against peacekeeping personnel, the UN sends in a team to investigate whether there are grounds to turn the case over to local police or judicial officials. This can take between on and what Donovan calls, “an astonishing 62 months.” In the interim, she says evidence can degrade, witnesses be threatened, evidence can be tampered with.
A high-level panel of the U.N recently recommended that countries which contributed offending troops be named and shamed. It also said such countries should not be allowed to contribute troops to subsequent missions.
Panel didn’t go far enough for Code Blue
The panel stressed that “immunity must not mean impunity.” Not good enough, says Donovan. In her view, the secretary-general should simply state that where there are allegations of sexual abuse or exploitation, the UN will not intervene, but will allow local authorities to investigate and prosecute.
At stake she says is the reputation of the UN. Peacekeeping “is the first face of the United Nations in many countries. It’s the most visible presence of the United Nations.
When the UN is seen as ‘a marauding band of lawless people’
“When the civilian population believes that the United Nations is simply sort of a marauding band of lawless people then it undermines absolutely everything else that the United Nations does.”
The UN now has about 125,000 military and non-military staff in 16 peacekeeping missions around the world.
For reasons beyond our control, and for an undetermined period of time, our comment section is now closed. However, our social networks remain open to your contributions.