What:  The House International Relations Subcommittee on Africa,  Global Human Rights and International Operations will hold a two part forum, briefing and hearing on major human rights  abuses committed by UN Peacekeepers charged with sexually exploiting and abusing Congolese girls ages 11-14.

Who: 

Briefing: UN Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping   Jane Holl Lute

Hearing:  • The Honorable Kim R. Holmes, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of International Organization Affairs,                          State Dept.
               •    Nile Gardiner, Ph.D., Heritage Foundation
               •    Anneke Van Woudenberg, Human Rights Watch  

When:

Tuesday, March 1, 2005 at 1:00 p.m.
Briefing: 1:00 p.m.; Hearing to follow immediately thereafter 

Where:

Room 2172 Rayburn House Office Building, Capitol Hill,  Washington, D.C.

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     (Washington, DC) — Congressman Chris Smith, Chairman of the newly created Africa, Global Human Rights, and International Operations Subcommittee, has announced a two part forum that will delve into reports of human rights abuses and charges of rape, forced prostitution and trafficking of young Congolese girls by UN Peacekeepers sent to the region to protect them.

     Smith, the author of the nation’s two landmark laws to combat trafficking (Trafficking in Persons Protection Act, PL 106-396 and the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, PL 108-193) said “The United States government, a worldwide leader in the fight against trafficking of women and children, and the largest donor to the UN peacekeeping force in the Congo, cannot sit idle while evidence of these atrocities mounts.   We can and will insist that the UN and its member states find and hold accountable all perpetrators, and implement new reforms to ensure that defenseless peoples in areas of turmoil are in fact protected and aided by UN peacekeepers, not exploited.”

     “New legislation I have introduced, HR 972, strengthens efforts to combat sexual exploitation and trafficking in persons by military and peacekeepers.  Among the many changes, the new bill will require a certification that safeguards are in place to prevent peacekeepers from trafficking or committing acts of sexual exploitation before a U.S. contribution to a UN peacekeeping mission is made.  And it requires new reports on steps taken by the UN, OSCE, NATO and other international organizations to eliminate involvement of its personnel in trafficking,” he said.

     In May 2004, serious allegations of sexual misconduct and exploitation by United Nations civilian and military personnel stationed in the Ituri province of Eastern Congo became public. A report by the United Nations’ Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), released in January 2005, revealed that the allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse of local Congolese women and girls were “serious and ongoing,” that many Congolese girls aged 11 to 14 years were being sexually exploited “as a means of getting food and sometimes small sums of money,” and that “equally disturbing … was the lack of a protection and deterrence program, even now.”

     Unfortunately, this is not the first time United Nations personnel have been accused of such heinous behavior, and sexual misconduct is not reserved to MONUC (The UN Mission in the Congo).  In 2002, the United Nations was forced to investigate charges of sexual exploitation of refugee girls by aid workers and peacekeepers in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Reportedly, that investigation resulted in the adoption of a UN Code of Conduct.  Sadly, that Code has not been consistently enforced. This calls into question the UN’s commitment to ensure that peacekeepers do not exploit the very civilians they have been tasked to protect.

     “Among other things,” Smith said, “this hearing will address the adoption, implementation, and enforcement of a uniform code of conduct not only for MONUC, but for all UN peacekeeping operations.  We will also examine strategies for mandatory and effective training of peacekeepers in the areas of human rights, to include the areas of sexual exploitation and trafficking in persons, as well as HIV/AIDS.  We also hope to gain comments about and support for Congressional efforts to combat crimes of trafficking and exploitation by international peacekeepers and organizations commissioned around the world.”