Global Policy Forum

By Evelyn Leopold

The U.N. representative in the Congo, American William Lacy Swing, may soon resign his post following allegations of widespread sexual abuse by peacekeepers, diplomats said on Monday. Swing, due in New York on Thursday to confer with Secretary-General Kofi Annan, is expected to submit his resignation then or when he returns to the Congo, the envoys said.

American sources said Swing, a respected retired U.S. diplomat, had wanted to resign twice over the past two years but was persuaded by U.S. and U.N. officials to stay. In light of the scandals, the envoys said U.N. officials believed it would be a good time to make a change in the top U.N. post in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, although there was no suggestion Swing was personally involved in wrongdoing.

Over the past year, the United Nations has probed 150 allegations against some 50 soldiers of sexual exploitation of women and girls, including gang rapes. Children as young as 12 or 13 were bribed with eggs, milk or a few dollars in exchange for sex, U.N. reports said.

Compared with previous peacekeeping scandals, the United Nations went public with the details. Swing has put into effect a "no-tolerance" policy that prohibits all social contact with Congolese. But his position became shaky after a recent ABC News documentary chronicled multiple instances in which teenage girls were lured into sexual encounters with U.N. personnel in exchange for one or two dollars and some food. "It showed it was still going on despite all the U.N. efforts," said one Security Council member.

There are nearly 11,000 military personnel in the Congo to help keep the peace after a civil war. The force is the largest among the more than 60,000 soldiers in U.N. peacekeeping operations around the world. John Guehenno, the U.N. undersecretary-general for peacekeeping, expects more complaints of sexual abuse, outside of those that have surfaced in the Congo, Burundi and Haiti.

Louise Frechette, the deputy secretary-general, is touring peacekeeping missions in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast to "drive home the secretary-general's zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse," U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said. The United Nations has jurisdiction over its own civilian staff but it only has the power to demand a specific country repatriate an accused soldier and prosecute him or her at home.

A week ago, Ruud Lubbers, the U.N. high commissioner for refugees, was forced to resign amid allegations of his own inappropriate behavior toward female staff. He has denied the charges.

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