Peacekeepers punished for sex abuses

50 UN

November 06, 2009|Associated Press

GENEVA - At least 50 peacekeepers have received punishments ranging from reduction in military rank to eight months imprisonment for committing sexual abuses on United Nations missions since 2007, the UN said yesterday.

The data were released after media organizations asked what measures countries were taking against peacekeepers accused of rape and other abuses in conflict areas such as Congo.

The United Nations can investigate allegations of misconduct, but prosecution is handled by governments contributing personnel to missions.

The figures show a significant increase in prosecutions and court-martials by national authorities this year. The disciplinary action against 33 peacekeepers in “cases involving sexual exploitation and abuse’’ through November included lesser penalties from dismissal, forced retirement, and withdrawal of an officer’s commission to prison sentences reaching eight months.

Only two military personnel were punished for similar abuses in 2008, and 15 in 2007, according to the UN data aggregated by the organization’s field support department.

Allegations of sexual exploitation and other crimes have dogged UN peacekeeping missions almost since their inception in 1948, with abuses reported in missions from Bosnia and Kosovo to Cambodia, East Timor, West Africa, and Congo.

The figures show that the United Nations has referred to national authorities over 450 instances of misconduct - sexual and otherwise - since 2007. It received responses in 29 cases.