Dozens of UN peacekeepers punished for abuses
Last Updated: Thursday, November 5, 2009 | 10:48 AM ET
CBC News
The United Nations says at least 50 peacekeepers have been punished by national authorities in the last three years for committing sexual abuses while on UN missions.
The data, released Thursday, comes after repeated requests from media for the punishments meted out to peacekeepers accused of rape and other abuses in conflict areas such as Congo, Haiti, Sudan and Ivory Coast.
The UN said the punishments ranged from reduction in military rank to eight months imprisonment.
No data on the nationalities or identities of the peacekeepers were revealed.
The data shows a significant increase in prosecutions in 2009, with 33 peacekeepers facing disciplinary action through November. Only two military personnel were punished for similar abuses in 2008 and 15 in 2007.
The UN adopted a policy of "zero tolerance" to sexual exploitation and abuse and a universal code of conduct for peacekeepers. But while the UN can investigate claims, prosecution is handled solely by the governments contributing personnel to missions.
The figures show the UN has referred to national authorities over 450 instances of misconduct — sexual and otherwise — since 2007. It received responses in only 29 of these cases.
The UK arm of the human rights charity Save the Children released a report in 2008 that found more than 50 per cent of 250 boys and girls living in towns in Haiti, Sudan and the Ivory Coast said they knew of at least one incident of coerced sex and sexual touching involving boys and girls in their communities.
Allegations of abuse have also been reported during peacekeeping missions in Bosnia, Kosovo, Congo, East Timor and Cambodia.
With files from The Associated Press
