The UN is raping too much

The scandal that wasn't: The tradition of sexual abuses by UN "Peacekeepers" (to name a few: Cambodia, Haiti, Congo, Liberia). And it's not only the military personnel being concerned. Minors of course are not spared. 295 cases of sexual abuse were investigated last year in the UN. And that's only 295 cases the UN is willing to tell us about. : There are still too many complaints of sexual abuse against United Nations troops, the head of peacekeeping operations has said. ["Too many"?! -ed.] Jean-Marie Guehenno said the UN had investigated 295 cases under a new reporting system introduced last year. It could take several more years to reform the system fully, says Jordan’s UN envoy who last year urged changes. The 18 peace missions worldwide employ 85,000 staff from over 100 countries, with a budget of nearly $5bn. Mr Guehenno said although significant progress had been made in reducing the number of cases of sexual exploitation following an investigation in the Democratic Republic of Congo two years ago, much more needed to be done. “Allegations being lodged against UN peacekeeping personnel remain high and unacceptably so,” he said. He noted “how hard it is to change a culture of dismissiveness, long developed within ourselves, in our countries and in the mission areas.” While the media are showing some sort of lusty interest for Prisoner abuse pictures from Abu Ghraib and while Amnesty International (AI) calls Guantanamo the "Gulag of our time" (Irene Khan, AI's secretary general should be jailed for this statement, since deniers of the Shoah are as well), it is interesting to note that this UN scandal (like Oil-for-food to a certain extent) doesn't really arouse anybody's interest. I wonder what AI would call it if US soldiers behaved this way - I easily imagine the disgusting pictures the Spiegel would be publishing with delight. english / Politique / Désinformation