APRENDIZAJE SIGNIFICATIVO
3.2.4 POLÍTICAS MICRO INSTITUCIONALES
There have been reports of sexual exploitation in nearly all UN peacekeeping missions.i This has remained so despitethe fact that theUN says it has a ―zero tolerance, no excuses and nosecond chances approach to sexual exploitation and abuse.‖i Even in the peacekeeping mission currently in South Sudan (UNMISS); continued instances of sexual exploitation by peacekeeping personnel have been reported after allegations surfaced in February 2018 of a Ghanaian
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peacekeeping unit in South Sudan having ―transactional sex‖ with local women living in a protection of civilian site.iThis is a clear breach of the UN‘s code of conduct, which prohibits sexual relationships with vulnerable people, and this has no doubt caused challenges in UNMISS credibility and also creates an atmosphere of mistrust.
The most SEA allegations have come from three specific missions during UN history; the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) in 2010, its predecessor being the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) established in 1999, the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) established in 2004, and the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) established in 2003.i The history of these countries leading up to the establishment of UN peacekeeping forces in the country will be briefly examined, in an attempt to find common factors explaining the high number of SEA cases during each mission.
i. The United Nations Organization Mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC)
The 1994 Rwandan genocide set the stage for many unstable and violent years in the history of Central Africa. Rebellions and violent conflicts followed the nation as the Congolese Civil Wars brought more destruction, and the losses of millions of people.iIn 1997 rebel forces overthrew the legitimate government and established the Democratic Republic of the Congo. However, violence persisted as new rebellions sparked, spreading destruction to neighboring areas.
Eventually the conflict-ridden period was brought to an end, as the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement was established between parties in 1999.iMONUC was established the same year to sustain the ceasefire and promote the peaceful liaison between the parties involved.
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In November of 1999, the UN Security Council established MONUC with the adoption of Resolution 1279 and authorized the mission, allowing personnel to take ―the necessary action,‖ including lethal force, to fulfill their mission, protect themselves, other personnel, civilians, UN equipment and the effectiveness of their operations.i MONUC established its headquarters in Kinshasa and liaison offices in Pretoria, South Africa and Kigali, Rwanda. By April 2010, the mission had a fairly established presence in the eastern portion of the country, a vast and volatile region that experienced the most fighting and sexualviolence, with bases and headquarters in various cities throughout the country.iAlan Doss, the Secretary-General‘s Special Representative to the DRC, explained in 2010 that MONUC concentrated more than 95% of its force, roughly 23,275 military troops, in the eastern regions of the country.iMONUC was renamed MONUSCO in 2010 in accordance with UNSC1925.
In 2004 the international media reported that more than one hundred local women throughout the DRC complained that MONUC personnel had committed a variety of sexual crimes. Multiple media outlets reported the scandal; and depicted the horrendous exploitation, which included sexual relations with girls as young as 10 and in exchange for milk, eggs or peanut butter.iInvestigations conducted by the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) revealed disturbing details from the mission where, ―numerous reports by victims of peacekeepers engaging in detailed and disturbing acts, such as videotaping themselves torturing, raping, and abusing naked women and girls.iThe OIOS investigated 72 allegations, all of which originated in Bunia, and were only able to substantiate seven claims.i Despite the OIOS investigation in 2005, peacekeepers continued to commit sexual violence and in 2006 local women filed an additional 217 allegations.i This mission singlehandedly is responsible for nearly
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half of the documented SEA cases during past years.i One may therefore argue that peacekeepers did not improve the situation of sexual violence DRC.
ii. The United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH)
The first UN mission in Haiti (UNMIH) was set up after the violent political coup of 1991 and the overthrowing of the legitimate president.iThe UN peacekeeping forces officially deployed in 1994, to aid in the return of the legitimate authorities of the country, as well as in the promotion of a stable and peaceful environment.i The operation was deemed successful and as great strides were made the UN forces left the country in 1996.i However, the mission was reestablished not long after, in 2004, after another violent rebellion compromised the peace and security already once established in the country.iMINUSTAH was created to reestablish the once secure and stable government, and to maintain the rule of law and public order in Haiti.iUnfortunately in the beginning of 2010 the country was struck with a 7.0 magnitude earthquake and the rebuilding process was severely set back as the country suffered the devastating losses of over 300,000 people. Only 10 months later an outbreak of cholera, deemed the worst in recent history, hit Haiti, killing almost 10, 000 and hospitalizing thousands more.iRegardless of the obvious hardships of the mission MINUSTAH succeeded to support the country through its presidential and legislative elections.i
Sexual exploitation and abuse scandals have made their way to the public eye throughout the mission's tenure, but the true levels of UN SEA and the number of victims remain largely hidden from view.iWhen the OIOS conducted SEA interviews in Haiti, 231 individuals came forward and admitted to having sex with peacekeepers in return for different goods;some to secure their position inthe society,or to gain luxuries like cellphones, clothes or other desired valuables.However there were also those who cited hunger, lack of shelter, baby care items,
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andmedications as the reason for agreeing to sex.iAs transactional sex is commonly defined as sexual intercourse driven by material exchanges,iit is clearly against the rules of UN‘s Zero Tolerance Policy,prohibiting sexual relations in exchange for assistance, goods, money etc. This also reveals the indifferent attitude or lack of knowledge of peacekeeping personnel with regard to UN regulations.
Arguments have been canvassed that The UN‘s inability to determine and enact lasting solutions to prevent UN SEA has eroded its credibility, as sexual exploitation and abuse perpetrated by UN personnel continue to prevent MINUSTAH from promoting rule of law, ensuring a secure and stable environment and protecting human rights in order to ensure individual accountability for abusers and redress for victims.i
iii. The United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL)
In 1989 Liberia ended up in the middle of its first civil war, lasting until 1996.i The war started when the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) led by former government official Charles Taylor sought to overthrow the repressive government of Samuel Doe.iThe violent conflict deemed the lives of over 200,000 Liberians and forced almost a million others out of their home and as refugees in neighboring countries.iIn 1993 the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) succeeded in negotiating a peace agreement between the parties and UNOMIL,the predecessor of UNMIL was established to observe and help in the realization of the peace.iHowever, the peaceful times in Liberia did not last long as new rebellions sparked almost instantly after the election of the new president, Charles Taylor, restarting the already once stopped civil war.iThe violence and conflict continued to devastate the country up until 2003, when Taylor stepped down and UN forces were again deployed in the country.UNMIL
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helped the country to rise from the devastation of its violent past and achieved the securing of the peace and rebuilding of the society, longed for over a decade by the Liberian people. i
In February 2002 a report published by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Save the Children detailed numerous complaints indicating that UN peacekeeping personnel and humanitarian aid workers in Liberia had demanded sex for food, shelter, education and medicine.i
UNMIL reached its fair share of negative attention with multiple allegations claiming that UN peacekeepers routinely engaged in sexual relations with Liberian girls, sometimes aged as young as 12.iAn internal U.N letter confirmed the violations, "…girls as young as 12 years of age are engaged in prostitution, forced into sex acts and sometimes photographed by U.N.
peacekeepers in exchange for $10 or food or other commodities.‖i A report by the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services said peacekeepers in Liberia bought sex with money, jewelry, cell phones, televisions and other items in countries where they are deployed.iThe OIOS report, also said a survey of 489 women between the ages 18 and 30 in the Liberian capital, Monrovia found that a quarter of them said they had sex with UN peacekeepers, usually for money.i In addition, it has also been reported that during Liberia‘s 14-year civil war, it was estimated that thousands of children born to Liberian women were fathered by Nigerian and Ghanaian soldiers who were part of the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) peace keeping force.i These children were left behind in poverty and eventually became a liability to not just the mothers, but to society as a whole.i
Further, findings suggest that over the course of nine years, approximately 58,000 Liberian women and adolescents in Liberia‘s capital city, Monrovia; have engaged in
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transactional sex with U.N peacekeepers.iThese numbers are clear indication of radical underreporting concerning SEA and its effects on women.
4.7.2 Lessons Learnt from the Analysis of Sexual Exploitation occurring in UN