Cleaning House
What could be more troubling than to realize that an institution whose presence and mission is to serve and protect is instead preying on those least able to fend for themselves? That's the position the United Nations finds itself in yet again. Rumours and allegations of sex misdeeds by United Nations personnel in war-torn countries have been floating around for years; have been semi-acknowledged, and then more or less swept under the rug.Now those same allegations are once again surfacing and this time in yet another venue. The United Nations' ten thousand military personnel, comprised of a multitude of nationalities, have been implicated in rape in the past, and now victims, child victims of forced sex are coming forward in Sudan claiming to have been molested by UN representatives.
The allegations involve not only the UN military (peacekeepers) but also military police and civilian and diplomatic staff. Tales of sordid sexual exploitation of minors began surfacing only months following the UN presence in Sudan. UNICEF, another United Nations agency representing the well-being of children, has made reference to this dreadful issue.
United Nations personnel have made it a regular practise to pursue, to pick up young children, using their United Nations vehicles, and forcing them into sex acts. It's estimated that hundreds of children have been abused by United Nations personnel. The peacekeeping units (blue berets) have been alleged to prey on children as young as twelve.
Those in charge in the United Nations continue to insist that the allegations are likely without foundation, despite that street children in south Sudan have actually identified witnesses whom United Nations investigators failed to locate. Human rights groups and southern Sudanese government officials insist that the perpetrators must be called to account and punished.
The most vulnerable of the very people whom the United Nations peacekeepers have been tasked with protecting are those very segments of the desperately needful population that are being violated. The topmost echelons of the United Nations give directives to those in the field, and those in the field metaphorically shrug their shoulders in indifference.
That age-old "boys will be boys" translates to men will have their way because this is their nature, and is still seen as an acceptable excuse for this intolerable abuse of the helpless.
posted by Pieface @ Thursday, January 04, 2007
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