Global Policy Forum

As the United Nations confronts allegations of sex abuse on peacekeeping missions worldwide, officials said punishing soldiers may be easier than punishing civilians working for the world body. Ensuring justice is seen to be done is a critical issue as the United Nations confronts one of the biggest scandals in its history. Under current rules, peacekeepers accused of wrongdoing are sent home and punishment is left to their governments who often do nothing, while civilians in similar circumstances can be sent home or face UN disciplinary action.

While much of the effort to stop sexual misconduct has focused on new policies for the 60,000 peacekeeping troops in 16 missions around the globe, United Nations deployments have about 10,000 foreign civilians and civilian police who fall outside military rules. "The problem with civilians is you don't have that same kind of command structure over them," Margaret Carey, the principal Africa officer in the Department of Peacekeeping said in an interview. "That's, I think, where the most creative and difficult work is going to be."

The United Nations has taken drastic steps to curtail abuses by peacekeeping troops. Troops have been ordered not to associate with civilians in Congo, which has seen dozens of sexual-abuse claims. In Haiti, soldiers cannot even bring civilian clothes on their deployment. The United Nations is also rethinking its rules for military peacekeepers, including the possibility accused soldiers could be court-martialled in the country where the allegations of abuse were made.

But the political officers, public-affairs workers, administrators and other civilians are not subject to such discipline. UN officials are still searching for more effective ways of enforcing a stated "zero-tolerance" policy. Civilians in the peacekeeping mission in Liberia have been restricted from going to some clubs but abuses continue, said Sarah Martin, a researcher with Refugees International who visited the West African country in December. "What I'd heard from different staff people I interviewed was men just buy a house or rent a house and put women in there," Martin said.

The United Nations has not detailed the total number of abuse claims. While most have involved soldiers, several civilians have been implicated - and the allegations continue to emerge. In February, two UN peacekeepers in Haiti were suspended for having sex with a prostitute. In late January, a staffer with the UN refugee agency was arrested in Kosovo on allegations related to sex abuse and human-and drug-trafficking.

The claims are particularly damaging to the world body, which has been out front with efforts to stop sexual abuse. When the claims surrounding Congo broke last year, officials said they were determined stop it. A U.S. congressional committee has begun investigating the abuse claims surrounding Congo.

In testimony to that committee March 1, the UN assistant secretary general for peacekeeping operations, Jane Holl Lute, said the United Nations is planning a "global audit" that will examine policies at missions and UN headquarters "which may unwittingly contribute to an environment of permissiveness." To hammer home the "zero-tolerance" message, Canadian UN deputy secretary general Louise Frechette has just completed visits to peacekeeping missions in Africa.

Civilian contractors in many places where people are vulnerable have also been implicated in abuses, not just UN employees, said Sarah Mendelson, a fellow with the Washington-based Center for Strategic Studies. But Mendelson, who has studied the links between peacekeepers and human-trafficking in the Balkans, said the United Nations has been more reluctant to take serious action. "It's the year 2005 and they have had evidence of this going back at least to 1997, 1998 in Bosnia. So why do we see what looks to those of us on the outside is a very thin commitment?" Mendelson said. "I welcome the UN saying the right thing and we're looking for them to do the right thing."

Officials with several United Nations agencies said they are working to tackle the problem. Staff have been trained not to take advantage of the people they work with and report abuse. Many have codes of conduct, though some of those are not mandatory. "Somebody with a sack of flour has a lot of influence. Somebody with a food parcel can easily enter into an exploitative situation," said Ron Redmond, spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. "All of our staff have been trained to be aware that they are not to enter into these types of exploitative relationships."

Redmond said punishing those found to have committed a crime is the responsibility of the country where they are from, though the United Nations can lift their diplomatic immunity. They can also be given administrative punishment. Still, figuring out what behaviour is off-limits for civilians may not always be as obvious as it seems, said Carey, the peacekeeping official.

The United Nations is still struggling with how to tackle it. "How does somebody from the outside say it's a personal relationship, or it's a prostitute, or it's somebody living at your home and you're being exploited?" Carey asked.

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