Countries named in UN sexual abuse report, DRC tops
The UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon has decried the increasing number of sexual exploitation by peacekeepers and other UN staff in various missions globally.
In a report released, a first of a kind detailing nationalities of persons accused of sexual exploitation, Ban notes that a total of 99 allegations were registered in 2015 up from 52 in 2014.
Out of these figures a total of 69 cases of sexual exploitation and abuse were reported in nine current and one closed peacekeeping missions involving 21 countries.
“Of those allegations, 15 involved staff members or United Nations Volunteers; 38 involved members of military contingents or United Nations military observers; and 16 involved United Nations police officers, members of formed police units and government-provided personnel. Of the 17 completed investigations as at 31 January 2016, 7 allegations were substantiated and 10 were unsubstantiated,” the report reads in part.
Top on the list
Troops from the Democratic Republic of Congo topped the list with seven allegations followed by Morocco and South Africa each with four accusations.
A number of other African countries feature in the list notably: Cameroon, Congo, Tanzania, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Gabon, Niger, Nigeria and Togo. Police from Rwanda, Ghana, Madagascar and Senegal also faced claims.
Two UN missions accounted for the majority of claims: the MINUSCA force in the Central African Republic and MINUSCO in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but there were also cases in Ivory Coast and Mali.
The report notes, “This increase in the number of allegations is deeply concerning.”
Penalties
In a measure to deal with the allegations, payments of 12 military contingent personnel, 3 police personnel and one government funded individual were suspended last year. A further 13 military personnel were repatriated once their presence in a mission was no longer required for the completion of investigations, the report observes.
The high level of sexual violence associated with the conflict, extreme poverty, the displacement of vulnerable populations and women and girls being forced into prostitution in Central Africa Republican heightened the vulnerability of victims for sexual exploitation and abuse, the report reads.