15 cases of alleged sex exploitation, abuse in CAR, 13 involving soldiers: UN

Since the UN mission in the Central African Republic (CAR) began last year, there have been "63 allegations of possible misconduct ... 15 related to possible sexual exploitation and abuse - 13 involving soldiers," the United Nations top peacekeeper said on Friday.

"Fifteen cases is definitely 15 cases too much," Undersecretary-General Herve Ladsous told reporters at UN Headquarters after returning from the CAR. "I had a long meeting with uniformed personnel in Bangui (CAR capital) and I gave them a very, very strong-worded speech."

Of the 15 cases, there was one case involving either military or police, and one by a police officer, he said.

The remarks by Ladsous were based on what UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the UN Security Council when the problem surfaced last month. Amnesty International said a teenager gave birth to a child after being raped, allegedly by a French soldier. He was not a UN peacekeeper but a member of a French stabilization force.

Ban had emphasized zero-tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse.

"I think one very clear issue is whether we could actually name the countries themselves -- I'm not talking about naming and shaming, shaming is something else -- but naming because obviously it has to be known who is responsible," Ladsous said. "So we'll look into that."

He said that in nine cases, "We have informed member states of our decision to suspend the payments for these people (accused) and we have also -- either we or in one instance the contributing country concerned -- we have repatriated seven people. But, I think one has to say that most of those cases were under investigation" when a recent allegation of abuse involving the Democratic Republic of the Congo came up.

In that case, Ladsous said, the DRC ambassador to the CAR was summoned to headquarters of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the CAR (MINUSCA) and he was told that "we actually wanted, very strongly, that they send national investigators. That has happened. Now we are awaiting the conclusions."

Under agreements with the host nation, UN peacekeeping troop contributing nations' personnel fall under legal jurisdiction of their home countries.

Ladsous also said he gave "a whole roadmap to the secretary-general 10 days ago. This is being considered. There are all sorts of measures, actually 40 proposals, that are being entertained and we will seek support of member states to move forward on that."

Emphasizing he was not attempting to make any excuses for the behavior of accused peacekeepers, he related the sad state some of them live under.

"I was appalled even more so that on previous visits by the conditions of our peacekeepers, the conditions they are living in central Africa," he said. "Some have been deployed ... 18-24 months. They have no opportunity to travel for rest and recreation (R&R) because they don't get any money. We do give the member states welfare money. But I am not sure the soldiers see the color of it."

"It's not an excuse but one has to do a better job so we are looking at ways and means for relatively cheap R&R trips," Ladsous said. "They are difficult because Bangui is a very poorly served airport. One or two planes a day and we have large constraints on our own air assets. Anyway, we are looking at it very closely to see what we can do."

"This is something that is unacceptable because it simply reflects on the United Nations. It reflects on the trust that people should feel for us and we are in a way highly betraying," the top peacekeeper added.

While Ladsous was meeting with reporters, Ban was releasing the results of a nearly year-long study by a High-level Independent Panel, "to examine how the full range of UN peace operations can be harnessed to address the spread and intensity of conflict today."

It was formed before the latest scandal broke, so it was not specifically to address the sexual exploitation and abuse scandal. But the secretary-general included actions he already has taken to end such exploitation and abuse.

"I asked the panel to be bold in their recommendations on how UN peace operations can be strengthened to better meet today's challenges," Ban told the 193 member states of the world organization.

"I set out what I believe to be the priorities for UN peace operations and the steps we need to take to achieve them," he said in his message accompanying the report.

"I believe three fundamental changes are urgently required to adapt UN peace operations to today and tomorrow's challenges," Ban said.

"First, we need to prioritize prevention and mediation if we are to break the cycle of responding too late and too expensively," he said. "Second, we need to change the way we plan and conduct UN peace operations to make them faster, more responsive and more accountable to countries and people in conflict. Third, we must put in place a global-regional framework to manage today's peace and security challenges.

"It is essential that we are accountable and responsive to the needs of the people we serve," the secretary-general said. "Critically, we cannot be the source of additional suffering."

Ban outlined over a dozen new measures he said he was taking "to rid the United Nations of heinous sexual exploitation and abuse."

"Change will only take place if Member States and partners join me in this effort," he said. Enditem