UN staff accused of raping children in Sudan
By Kate Holt in Juba and Sarah Hughes
Last Updated: 1:23pm GMT 03/01/2007
The Daily Telegraph
In pictures: The vulnerable children of Sudan
The UN said today that it would launch an investigation after the Daily
Telegraph reported allegations that UN personnel have abused children in southern
Sudan.
Peacekeeping and civilian staff based
in Juba are accused of picking up young children and forcing them to have sex
Members of the United Nations peacekeeping forces in southern Sudan
are facing allegations of raping and abusing children as young as 12 ,
The Daily Telegraph reported today.
The abuse allegedly began two years ago when the UN
mission in southern Sudan (UNMIS) moved in to help rebuild the region after
a 23-year civil war. The UN has up to 10,000 military personnel in the region,
of all nationalities and the allegations involve peacekeepers, military police
and civilian staff.
The first indications of possible sexual exploitation emerged within months
of the UN force's arrival and The Daily Telegraph has seen a draft of an internal
report compiled by the UN children's agency Unicef in July 2005 referring to
the problem.
This paper has learnt of more than 20 victims' accounts claiming that some peacekeeping
and civilian staff based in the town are regularly picking up young children
in their UN vehicles and forcing them to have sex. It is thought that hundreds
of children may have been abused.
The first indications of possible sexual exploitation emerged within
months of the UN force's arrival and The Daily Telegraph has seen
a draft of an internal report compiled by the UN children's agency Unicef in
July 2005 referring to the problem.
This paper has learnt of more than 20 victims' accounts claiming
that some peacekeeping and civilian staff based in the town are regularly picking
up young children in their UN vehicles and forcing them to have sex .
It is thought that hundreds of children may have been abused.
"I was sitting by the river the first time it happened,” said Jonas, 14, one
of more than 20 children who claimed they had been abused this way.
"A man in a white car drove past and asked me if I wanted to get into the car
with him. I saw that the car was a UN car because it was white with the black
letters on it. The man had a badge on his clothes. When he stopped the car,
we got out, he put a blindfold on me and started to abuse me. It was painful
and went on for a long time. When it was over we went back to the place we had
been, and he pushed me out of the car and left."
Jonas now returns to the same place regularly in the hope of being
picked up and paid something for his services. "I know it is a terrible thing
to do but I see the UN cars around late at night by the drinking places and
I sit there in the hope of being picked up. If I get 1000 SD ($3) a day then
that is a good day." (This is how rape often leads
to prostitution.)
The allegations came just as the new UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon,
took over saying he will make Darfur, the north-west of Sudan, a priority. The
UN is pushing to be allowed to launch a new peacekeeping mission there to help
end the humanitarian crisis that has spiralled in recent years.
The Telegraph understands that the Sudanese government, which is deeply opposed
to the deployment of UN troops to Darfur, has also gathered evidence, including
video footage of Bangladeshi UN workers allegedly having sex with three young
girls.
Responding to the report, Jane Holl Lute, the UN assistant secretary-general
for peacekeeping, said: "There could be truth. These environments are ones in
which it is difficult to ascertain the truth.
"I do not believe these are new allegations. Nevertheless, we will treat them
as seriously as we treat all other allegations," she told the Associated Press
in New York.
She said she had spoken to the force commander and chief of staff in the UN
mission in southern Sudan "and I know they are very well briefed on what UN
policy is and have taken steps to implement that policy across the board in
that mission."
"But we don't have the facts yet in this case, and we need to ascertain the
facts and follow it through to appropriate resolution and take action if necessary.
"We won't be complacement and there will be no impunity to the full extent of
the UN's authority.”
When contacted by this paper prior to publishing the allegations, the UN's headquarters
refused to comment.
Many of the children who claim to have had sex with UN personnel
in Juba belong to southern Sudan's "lost generation", separated from their families
by the recent civil war, who now sleep rough on the streets of Juba, the regional
capital.
This paper has gathered more than 20 victims' accounts claiming
that peacekeeping and civilian staff based in the town are regularly picking
up young children in their UN vehicles and forcing them to have sex.
It is thought that hundreds of children may have been abused.
The other children interviewed describe the same scenario. One boy,
13 years old, reported being enticed into a UN car with the offer of cash and
then abused before being dumped without any payment. Similar verbal
testimonies have been gathered by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and
rights groups in the region. But there are no medical reports confirming that
the children have been abused. The limited local medical services and the children's
poverty and fear are thought to explain why doctors have not been involved.
The British regional co-ordinator for UNMIS, James Ellery, has refuted
the claims, arguing that there is no substantiating evidence.
"I will refute all claims made on this issue," he said in an interview last
May. "We investigated all allegations made and no evidence was forthcoming.
None of these claims can be substantiated. This is the most backward country
in Africa and there are lots of misunderstandings as to the UN's role. Over
90 per cent of people here are illiterate and rumours therefore spread very
quickly."
Mr Ellery insisted that his organisation was following correct
codes of conduct.
"We provide regular briefings on the UN code of conduct. Nobody employed by
the UN is meant to have sexual contact at all with any local person," he said.
He did, however, appear to acknowledge that the organisation might not be able
to ensure that all its staff behave according to standards.
"We are applying a standard of morality that is very, very high but
we cannot expect that soldiers when they go abroad are going to behave themselves
as we think they should.
"There are a wide range of countries being represented in the UN forces
and among these there is always going to be a bad apple."
The Daily Telegraph has learned that a number of complaints have been made about
the behaviour of some UN personnel stationed in Juba. Yet those accused have
not been tracked down nor has there been any attempt by the UN or local officials
to interview those making the accusations.
The fledging government of southern Sudan is believed to be too concerned to
maintain good relations with the UN to challenge the organisation. An unfinished
copy of the internal Unicef report, seen by The Daily Telegraph, shows that
the UN has been aware of the problem for more than a year.
"Evidence suggests that UNMIS staff may already be involved in sexual exploitation,"
the report says. "UN cars have been staying into the early hours of the morning,
as late as 6am, at a restaurant/disco called Kololo in Juba … adult informants
reported seeing a UNMIS car stop along a main road in Juba to pick up three
young girls."
A preliminary report for a leading NGO in the region backed up these allegations,
although the NGO was unwilling to be named for political reasons.
The report stated: "According to Kennedy Tombe, 23, a shoe shiner in Kony Konyo
Market, the issue of young girls being picked up by UNMIS cars during late hours
in Juba is common. One time, he stated, he was chatting with friends of his
own in Kosti area near Konyo Konyo Market – they saw a UNMIS vehicle drop three
girls off.
"One girl, Jackline Keji, was 18, the other two were 13 and 16. Keji, who was
obviously frightened, said that they had spent the night with an UNMIS official.
She said that they had sex with that UNMIS official."
Juba's county court judge, Ali Said, said that the region had seen an increase
in child prostitution since the UN arrived.
''The majority of people working for the UN and NGOs are men and need to be
entertained. But no cases have come to court," he said.
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