Child sex abuse claims shake UN as revelations continue

[Lite Beer]

Child sex abuse claims shake UN as revelations continue
By CARA ANNA

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The boys said they approached the French soldiers because they were hungry. Some were so young they didn't quite understand the acts the soldiers demanded in return. One boy, 8 or 9 years old, said he did it several times to the same soldier, "until one day an older kid saw him and told him what he was doing was bad."

Another boy, 9, said he thought the soldiers had been urinating.

U.N. investigators heard such stories of sexual abuse from several boys in May and June 2014 in Central African Republic, where French soldiers were protecting a sprawling displaced persons camp in the conflict-torn capital, Bangui.

One year later, revelations about how the U.N. handled the boys' accounts have horrified people both inside and outside the world body. Statements marked "strictly confidential" have shown that its top human rights officials failed to follow up for several months on the allegations their own office had collected.

On Saturday, the high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Raad al-Hussein, said his office was sending a team to Central African Republic to look into what the statement called "possible further measures to address human rights violations," including sexual violence. The office also will ask "concerned states" what they have done to investigate them and prosecute anyone.

No arrests have been announced, and it's not clear where the accused soldiers, who were supporting a U.N. peacekeeping force, are now. The U.N. seems unable to say when the abuses stopped, or how long it continued to investigate.

On Friday, more documents were released by a non-governmental organization run by two former U.N. staffers that's calling for an independent investigation into the case. The documents show U.N. officials scrambling not so much to help a French inquiry into the allegations but to investigate the human rights staffer who told French authorities in the first place.

A separate report with the children's allegations, obtained by The Associated Press, says the first account was heard May 19 by a human rights staffer and a UNICEF child protection officer. The interviews continued through June 24. A Geneva-based human rights staffer shared the report with French authorities in July.

The boys' accounts are simple and stark. An 11-year-old said he had gone "looking for empty wrappings to play with" when a French soldier first called him over, later giving the boy food and a little money in exchange for oral sex. Another boy, 9, "had been severely beaten by his mother when he told her what had happened."

When approached by French authorities in Bangui, UNICEF referred them to the U.N.'s legal office in New York. UNICEF also gave the U.N.'s special representative for children and armed conflict information about the cases on July 16, UNICEF spokeswoman Najwa Mekki, said in an email Saturday. "In light of this case we are reviewing our practices, procedures and guidance" for staff and for reporting, she said.

The case has exposed a glaring weakness in a world body that considers human rights one of its three main pillars: It has no specific guidelines on how to handle allegations of child sexual abuse, and no requirement for immediate, mandatory reporting.

Even when French gendarmes showed up at the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Bangui to investigate the allegations — the report shared with French authorities is on the mission's letterhead — they were told they had to go through proper U.N. channels and talk to the human rights office in Geneva instead.

That was in August. At the end of March, the U.N. finally handed France a redacted copy of the same report they already had. The U.N. says the report first given to the French included the names of the children and witnesses and was a breach of protocol.

The children's allegations didn't make their way to top officials at U.N. headquarters in New York for months. On Friday, U.N. peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous told reporters he first heard about them this spring. When asked why the mission in Central African Republic didn't alert his office in New York right away, he said, "Some reporting lines maybe didn't function."

The NGO that on Friday released internal U.N. documents related to the case, AIDS-Free World, called for an independent investigation into the way the allegations were handled from the start.

"The grim reality is that those with experience within the U.N. system are unlikely to be surprised," its statement said. "They know that this is not an unusual case; it is simply one that has come, partially, to light."

A spokesman for the U.N. human rights office did not comment Friday. The spokesman for the U.N. secretary-general, Stephane Dujarric, told reporters that the documents "may or may not be authentic."

It is not clear whether a U.N. commission of inquiry on Central African Republic looked into the child sexual abuse allegations. It has said that because of limited resources it focused on incidents involving alleged deaths.

The commission's final report in December suggests that the U.N. secretary-general report alleged violations by all peacekeepers in Central African Republic, regardless of whether they are part of a U.N. mission.

But on Friday, his spokesman said the secretary-general only heard of the child sexual abuse allegations this spring.

Among the documents released Friday is a March 24 statement by the human rights staffer who interviewed the children. The statement is for the U.N. investigation into what it calls the "leak" to French authorities.

Between September and March, the staffer says, she didn't hear anything about the case.

But she offers, "I still have all the notes I took of the interviews if they would be of any help."

-- (c) Associated Press 2015-05-30

[EmptyHead]

Unbelievable.

What is it with people wanting to have sex with children?

[WitawatWatawit]

^^^ It's a question I never stop asking myself because I just can't get my head around it. But even worse, why take advantage of kids in a desperate situation, as if you have no sense of humanity whatsoever? I hope they track the barstardss down, and give them life, and destroy the careers of those in the UN bureaucracy who didn't act quickly enough.

[Credo]

Apparently the UN is getting guidance from the Vatican on how to handle these situations.

[Kerryd]

The UN is a pathetic organization. When I was in Croatia back in '92/93 there was an editorial cartoon which showed a huge tiger (the "UN") roaring and ready to pounce on a tiny, defiant Slobodan Milošević that was 1/5th the size of the tiger. He was defiant of course because the tiger had no teeth or claws (all bark and no bite as they say). We'd been there for almost 3 months and had been involved in numerous firefights when the UN finally passed a resolution allowing it's peacekeepers to return fire if they were fired upon ! We were astounded to learn that up to that point they (the UN) had actually expected that we wouldn't defend ourselves, despite the fact that when they sent us in fighting between the Serbs and Croats was still ongoing in places, as was the ethnic cleansing.

They send poorly equipped, poorly trained "peace keepers" into areas that need well equipped, well trained "peace makers". They don't have the balls to do what is needed and have proven that they really can't stop any of their members from doing pretty much anything they want. The level of incompetence and corruption that runs almost every aspect of the UN is mind boggling. That is one reason why the US has (in the past) threatened to withhold it's dues unless the UN started reforming it's ways and reducing those problems.

Doesn't surprise me at all to see that they were apparently more concerned with investigating someone that reported the abuses rather than their own pitiful reaction to it. Protecting your cushy UN job (and salary) is priority #1. Surrounding yourself with fellow countrymen and sycophants who all owe their positions (and salaries) to you is priority #2. Planning how to get your next promotion/pay raise/sweet posting is priority # 3. If there's any time left over after dealing with the first 3, then maybe you can spend a few minutes trying to figure out who you can pawn any real work off on (while still claiming all the credit for it of course).

None of that will change any time soon of course, especially as long as hiring is based more on quotas than competence and the corruption goes unchecked.

[thaibeachlovers]

its top human rights officials failed to follow up for several months on the allegations their own office had collected.

Is anyone surprised? Same thing happened in the Balkan conflict when UN soldiers were involved in trafficking girls to be sex slaves. Google balkan conflict UN human traffickers sex slaves for details.

The UN scum officials should be tried as criminals but they make sure they are legally immune.

[philipines]

"...later giving the boy food and a little money in exchange for oral sex. Another boy, 9, "had been severely beaten by his mother when he told her what had happened."

Curious about what she did to complain, was she charged with child abuse, etc.

[EnglishJohn]

The more I see of the world, the more I realise that we are all the same. Every society has the same mix of scumbags, perverts, lazy good-for-nothings, hard-workers and the genuinely good.

The only difference is how the society they grew up in allowed them to express it. You only find out what people are like when they think it is safe to drop their guard.

[Tchooptip]

What kind of human being could have sex with a starving children in exchange for food ?

[ggt]

It seems that child sex abuse is more wide spread than we might want to imagine...it is also more carefully and secretively hushed to protect the perpetrators...

These UN revelations appear to be legit...this is a double edged sword...it is not uncommon for rejected women to use this allegation to keep their ex-husband from having visitation rights with their children...

I have personal experience with this...was told I would have been arrested if not in the middle of a divorce...more level heads prevailed...when I received sole custody of the kids and the ex-wife could only see them while in the presence of child protective services...eventually she was denied any contact...

[thaibeachlovers]

What kind of human being could have sex with a starving children in exchange for food ?

Ever been in the military? I met some when I was.

[Daniel Boon]

is it just me, or do others agree that it is it more well off (comparatively speaking) that perpetrate these depraved acts?

Tony Abbott (prime example of Australia) continues to support pedophile priests in Australia; his having grown up as a devout catholic and later wishing to be a priest, does it suggest a perception that this is normal in the catholic church? (certain Jesuit priests were attracted to the more masochistic practices) otherwise, why would Abbott defend cardinal George Pell, who the Vatican representative said has the hallmarks of a sociopath ... recently (in Australia) a repeat sexual offended against children was given bail while a traffic offender was jailed ...

[siam2007]

Unbelievable.

What is it with people wanting to have sex with children?

the thing is that people do not acquire a certain sexual desire, they are born that way.

Some people like to have sex while wearing diapers, some people want to have sex even with animals. Some are attracted to the same gender.

I am sure they all do not like to be that way but it is in their genes.

It must be hard to restrain from executing sexual desire if it is considered illegal. I am sure nobody who is having such rather abnormal sexual desire is happy with it.

having said that, I do no tolerate taking advantage of people in desperate life situations, be it adults or kids

[Scott]

An inappropriate post has been removed.

[Ulysses G.]

Unbelievable.

What is it with people wanting to have sex with children?

the thing is that people do not acquire a certain sexual desire, they are born that way.

I don't believe that, although it is mostly true of homosexuality.

A lot of sexual behaviors are learned behaviors or purposely acquired during one's youth, but I agree that they seem normal to the person practicing them. I don't think anyone is born with a desire for autoerotic asphyxiation.

[Jaggg88]

I expect Sepp Blatter will join the UN when he's forced to resign from FIFA - he'll slot right in