The Providence Journal (R.I.), Aug. 18:
Recent disclosures have left the United Nations facing an uncomfortable question: how can the sexual abuse of defenseless people be called “peacekeeping”? Appallingly, U.N. peacekeepers in the Central African Republic have been accused over the past several months of sexually exploiting civilians, the very people who should be under their protection. So far, roughly a dozen cases have been reported. Last week, the human rights group Amnesty International alleged that one of the victims was a 12-year-old girl.
“I cannot put into words how anguished, angered and ashamed I am,” said Ban Ki-Moon, the U.N. secretary general. On Wednesday, he announced that he had fired the head of the peacekeeping mission in Central Africa Republic. He also called on all commanders of the U.N.’s 16 peacekeeping missions to deal swiftly and thoroughly with any allegations of sexual assault.
Yet the U.N.’s powers to act in these cases are frustratingly limited. Peacekeeping troops do not work directly for the U.N.; rather, they are provided by their own countries. As things stand, it is the responsibility of those countries to prevent, root out and punish wrongdoing.
Not surprisingly, the sexual assault problem is not new. A 2005 U.N. study noted widespread problems 10 years ago, and called for vigorous reforms. But troop-supplying countries objected, and few changes were made.
Nor is the problem confined to U.N. peacekeepers. Before U.N. forces arrived in the Central African Republic last year, they were preceded by French soldiers. The U.N. learned that some of these troops had forced young boys to perform sex acts, sometimes in exchange for food. And Human Rights Watch reports that African Union peacekeepers committed sexual abuse in Somalia in 2012 and 2013.
One reason the United Nations is reluctant to crack down is that it fears member nations will stop supplying troops. Given the widespread need of assistance, that could make things worse rather than better for most people living under conflict. The world’s refugees number around 60 million, a record high, and protecting them represents an enormous challenge.
Still, the latest revelations give the United Nations some muscle to push, again, for speedier investigations and the creation of a victims’ fund, among other reforms. It should also withhold valuable peacekeeping contracts from countries that fall conspicuously short. The United States, which pays an outsized share of the U.N.’s bills, can also push for greater accountability. The basic premise of peacekeeping must surely be: first, do no harm.
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