GENERAL NEWS

Sexual abuse cases tarnish image of Africa UN peacekeepers

NEWS STORY

Source: Anadolu Agency (http://www.aa.com.tr/en/politics/575921--sexual-abuse-cases-tarnish-imag...)

17 August 2015 - The reputation of UN peacekeepers deployed in Africa has been tarnished by six sexual abuse cases perpetrated by members of UN peacekeeping forces over the past 11 years.

1. Central African Republic, MINUSCA (2013-2015)

Amnesty International accused UN peacekeeping forces of raping a 12-year-old girl and killing a 16-year-old boy and his father during an operation in Bangui in early August.

MINUSCA, the UN peacekeeping force in the Central African Republic, immediately opened an investigation after the revelations, a UN official in Bangui told Anadolu Agency.

In July last year, a Paris prosecutor opened formal investigations into an earlier raft of allegations that at least 14 French soldiers deployed in CAR had sexually abused Central African children.

MINUSCA has over 12,000 troops from 40 countries. Last month, it dismissed 20 peacekeepers accused of excessive use of force against four people, two of whom died.

2. Liberia, UNMIL (2015)

According to a report by the UN Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) released in June, UN peacekeepers in Liberia were accused of buying sex with money, jewelry, cell phones, televisions and other items from women in Liberia (489 women aged between 18 and 30 according to the UN investigation).

The report said it was a violation of UN rules which "strongly condemn sexual relations" between peacekeepers and the people they protect.

Founded in 2003, the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) has nearly 5,000 peacekeepers.

3. Mali, MINUSMA (2013)

Soldiers from the Chadian contingent of the UN Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) were accused of raping a woman in September 2013.

The mission said in a statement that it was taking the accusations very seriously. MINUSMA rapidly provided medical assistance to the victim.

The victim also formally identified four soldiers among her attackers. They were immediately placed in custody.

MINUSMA then announced the opening of an investigation into allegations of sexual abuse by these peacekeepers in Gao, northern Mali.

The UN force in Mali is made up of 10,000 peacekeepers. It was established in 2013 following violence in 2012.

4. Ivory Coast, UNOCI (2010)

In the Ivory Coast, accusations of sexual abuse by peacekeepers occurred twice.

In 2009, Moroccan peacekeepers were convicted of rape, pedophilia and other sexual abuses and were sent back to their country.

In 2010, UNOCI was accused of sexual abuse in the western part of the country. Eight Ivorian young girls admitted to having sex with Beninese soldiers in exchange for food.

"It is up to the country of origin of peacekeepers to take appropriate action against persons involved," UNOCI said.

Established in 2003, UNOCI consists of nearly 8,000 people from 50 countries.

5. Democratic Republic of the Congo, MONUC (2009)

The UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo was established as MONUC in 2009 and then later turned into MONUSCO in July 2010.

Between December 2004 and August 2014, over 140 cases of sexual abuse involving peacekeepers were identified.

In 2009, following complaints of victims, 10 cases involving rape and pedophilia were reported.

MONUSCO has a workforce of over 18,000 people.

6. Burundi, ONUB (2004)

Two soldiers from the United Nations Mission in Burundi (ONUB) were suspended in December 2004 following allegations of "sexual misconduct."

Four Ethiopian soldiers were arrested for the same offense.

In 2003, under the leadership of former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the UN decided to be unyielding toward any of its soldiers accused of sexual abuse. But as it has no internal court, it counts on states to prosecute alleged perpetrators.

Although the reputation of peacekeepers has been tarnished, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has said several times that the bad behavior of some should not impact the enormous contribution of the largest number of peacekeepers deployed across the world to ensure peace and security.

Nearly 110,000 peacekeepers are engaged in 19 operations worldwide, nearly half of which are in Africa.

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DRC

UN campaigns to stop sex assaults by DR Congo peacekeepers

NEWS STORY

Source: AFP

17 August 2015 - The UN mission in the DR Congo launched a graphic campaign Monday aimed at preventing sexual abuse by its peacekeepers following a child rape scandal in the neighbouring Central African Republic.

The words "Sex with children is a crime" were splashed across images released for the campaign by MONUSCO, one of the world's largest peacekeeping missions.

The campaign comes after UN chief Ban Ki-moon sacked his Central African Republic mission chief after a string of allegations of child sex abuse by peacekeepers there.

The mission in the DR Congo has also been tainted by similar scandals.

In 2005, the UN banned peacekeepers from having relations with Congolese residents after allegations emerged that soldiers had sexually abused 13-year-old girls.

One campaign photo issued by MONUSCO shows a young African girl on a bed, hands over her face, with a UN blue helmet and uniform on the floor next to her.

"She could be your daughter. No sex with children!" says the accompanying text.

Another photo shows the shirtless back of a UN soldier, behind bars, with a bold red banner reading "Sex with children is a crime".

A MONUSCO source told AFP that the campaign was "planned well before" the scandal that led to Wednesday's sacking of the UN mission chief in the Central African Republic, Babacar Gaye.

The MINUSCA force in the troubled country, which took over from an African Union mission nearly a year ago, has been plagued by a series of scandals involving its soldiers.

So far, there have been 57 claims of misconduct, 11 of which possibly involve chid sex abuse.

The latest allegations revealed by Amnesty International involve a 12-year-old girl who told witnesses she was raped by a UN soldier during a search operation in Bangui this month.

"When I cried, he slapped me hard and put his hand over my mouth," she told Amnesty.

The United States said last week it was "profoundly shocked" by the claims of abuse, calling for the perpetrators to be punished and warning that the allegations undermine the credibility of UN peacekeeping missions.

The DRC campaign photos, which have been issued on the MONUSCO website as well as social media, have already prompted reactions on Facebook.

"The new campaign against sexual violence is welcome, but it's a shame that it was needed, because the UN is supposed to protect, and not attack," said one comment by Facebook user Dali Mbala.

The peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo -- which has been riven by conflict for about two decades mainly in the east -- counts about 20,000 uniformed personnel.

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RWANDA

Rwanda: Lt Gen Karake's Arrest - Why the UK Should Apologise to Rwanda

OPINION

Source: The New Times (Rwanda)

By Robert Mugisha

17 August 2015 - When a UK court dismissed the charges against Rwanda's head of the National Intelligence and Security Services, Lt General Karenzi Karake, there was relief that Britain finally realised Rwanda was not about to succumb to any pressures no matter how mighty Britain may be.

However, there are a couple of questions that remain unanswered and which Britain should respond to if Rwanda is to move on from the incident.

Why did the arrest take place?

Karenzi had been to the UK on several occasions prior to the arrest,. He had held meetings with UK officials organized in the same manner; the UK knows what a chief of National Intelligence and Security Service is; why is it that the arrest was made this time round? As a Rwandan official with diplomatic status, making this arrest was clearly an affront to Rwandans as a people and they therefore deserve to know why, in the first place, the incident ever took place. It was also a violation of international conventions regarding the treatment of envoys on mission under diplomatic immunity.

There was never any doubt about the political nature of that the Spanish indictments for which the arrest were made. In 2008, at the time they were first issued, various organisations exposed the flaws in the cases.

In an opinion published by the Wall Street Journal last month, Jendayi Frazor, a former top US diplomat, questioned the motive behind the arrest.

"A U.S. government interagency review conducted in 2007-08, when I led the State Department's Bureau of African Affairs, found that the Spanish allegations against Mr. Karenzi Karake were false and unsubstantiated," she wrote.

A British lawmaker and former International Development Secretary, Andrew Mitchell, was even more pointed in his criticism of the indictment in the wake of Gen Karenzi's arrest.

He described it as "a misuse of the European Arrest Warrant system".

"It's being used by the supporters of the genocidal regime against those who stopped the Genocide," he said. "The indictment is being used for political reasons, and not judicial ones".

UK authorities ought to explain why this happened - It is unbelievable that they would have merit enough to act the way they did.

Why did it take 7 weeks to dismiss the case?

General Karenzi was barred from leaving the UK for about 7 weeks. Owing to the controversies around the case, any competent judicial system would have discovered that the issue was not judicial, it was politically motivated and designed to inconvenience Rwanda. As a sovereign state, Rwandan should never have been dragged through this mess, not to mention for seven weeks.

The UK prides itself in being a champion of Human Rights and no doubt, has strong functioning institutions. The Rwandan people believe in friendly relations, but what the UK did was not friendly at all. However much more powerful the UK is compared to Rwanda, it does not have the authority to tramp on another sovereign country more so over a spurious legal tract. Attempting to do so against Rwanda; given what Rwanda has gone through; is of course a huge miscalculation.

It is not surprising that the UK dismissed the case. The truth finally came out, leaving the Judge with no option but to drop all charges. In March, a Spanish High Court, disagreed with the indicting Judge, Fernando Andreu Merelles, and overturned the arrest warrants on all the 40 Rwandans. The case is now with the Supreme Court which is expected to make a ruling next month. This, as President Paul Kagame said in Parliament on Thursday, is however not enough. Rwanda needs to understand why this happened; to be reassured it will not happen again and to understand how the UK plans to rebuild the lost trust.

For the UK to allow its system to be used by Rwanda's political detractors to gain, dishonors the country. The least the UK should do is apologise to the Rwandan people. While Rwandans are glad General Karenzi is back to work, answers to these questions and sincere apologies will help come good on the assertions that Rwanda is a close ally to the UK.

And, as Andrew Mitchell said shortly after the case was dismissed, "These events do not reflect well on the Spanish legal system, the European Arrest Warrant or indeed on Britain.

"What a terrible way to treat a senior official from a friendly government who was here to help us in the battle against terrorism. There's little doubt that the Rwandan government deserves an apology."

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BURUNDI

Burundi: Ban condemns assassination of senior army officer amid ‘troubling’ political violence

NEWS STORY

Source: UN News Centre

17 August 2015 - United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has condemned the assassination Burundi’s former Army Chief of Staff, Colonel Jean Bikomagu, who was shot dead by unknown assailants in the capital, Bujumbura, on 15 August, the second killing of a senior official in the crisis-torn country this month.

“[The Secretary-General] is troubled by the trend of politically-motivated violence in Burundi. He welcomes the Government’s decision to carry out investigations, and arrests and trials of the perpetrators behind the recent killings,” said a statement issued by Mr. Ban’s spokesperson in New York.

The Secretary-General, the statement added, reiterated his calls to all Burundians to resume an inclusive dialogue without delay to peacefully settle their differences, as well as the commitment of the UN to support the efforts aimed at consolidating peace and stability in their country.

On 2 August, another officer, General Adolphe Nshimirimana, was killed by a rocket attack.

Grenade explosion injures eight in Burundi capital say witnesses

NEWS STORY