UN: 69 sex crime allegations against peacekeepers
March 4, 2016
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's new study, an advanced copy of which was obtained by various news outlets on Thursday, says a total of 99 sex-related crimes were reported among staff members across the organization, 69 of which were allegedly committed by peacekeeping troops.
That last number is a significant increase from the 52 sex-crime allegations levelled at peacekeeping troops in 2014.
Almost one-third of the peacekeeping crimes from 2015 occurred in the Central African Republic (CAR), which has seen recent reports of UN troops engaing in sexual abuse, or using sex as a bartering tool.
Most of those peacekeeping troops were from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). According to Reuters news agency, other nationalities listed in connection with the peacekeeping-related allegations include Burundi, Germany, Ghana, Senegal, Madagascar, Rwanda, Congo Republic, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Tanzania, Slovakia, Niger, Moldova, Togo, South Africa, Morocco, Benin, Nigeria and Gabon.
In December, an independent body reported "gross institutional failure" in in dealing with allegations against UN peacekeeping troops in CAR. Since then, the UN has made a concerted effort to bring such crimes to light.
blc/bw (AP, Reuters)