UN peacekeepers sexually abused and exploited local women and girls in Liberia and more accusations are expected, a UN spokesman said yesterday.
Stephane Dujarric said a preliminary investigation by the UN mission in Liberia indicated that some allegations against its personnel could be substantiated, while others could not.
“The allegations range from the exchange of goods, money or services for sex to the sexual exploitation of minors. The peacekeeping department here in New York as well as the mission on the ground are taking appropriate follow-up action,” he said.
The head of the mission in Liberia, Jacques Paul Klein, is to step down when his contract expires at the end of the month, a UN spokesman announced on Thursday. His deputy Abou Moussa will temporarily take over.
The allegations of sex abuse in Liberia are just the latest to be levelled against UN peacekeepers who have been accused of exploiting the the very people they were sent to protect in missions from Bosnia and Kosovo to Cambodia, East Timor and Congo.
Dujarric said the number of allegations against UN peacekeepers around the world would likely increase.
“The United Nations treats this issue with the utmost seriousness and as we continue to clamp down on misconduct throughout all peacekeeping missions it is very likely that the number of these allegations will increase,” he said.
Last month a UN report by Prince Zeid Al Hussein, Jordan’s UN ambassador on peacekeeper sex abuse, said the UN’s military arm was deeply flawed and recommended withholding salaries of the guilty and requiring nations to pursue legal action against perpetrators.
Currently, UN troops and employees accused of wrongdoing are sent home to be dealt with by their own government but are often never punished.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan commissioned the report after more than 150 allegations of sexual exploitation of girls as young as 13 by UN peacekeepers in Congo surfaced.
It's shameful when those who are there to protect and that are in a position of power are the ones who are sexually abusing those they should be protecting.
This has happened in other countries where UN peacekeeping forces were present and Kofi Annan said he was outraged, he also added "I have long made it clear that my attitude to sexual exploitation and abuse is one of zero tolerance, without exception, and I am determined to implement this policy in the most transparent manner".
Still these cases of sexual abuse and paedophilia continue.
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