UN to probe DRC sex claims
2004-05-30 22:15
Bunia - The UN mission in the DRC on Sunday pledged to uncover the truth over allegations that its troops sexually abused minors in this strife-torn eastern region, and to hand down severe punishment to anyone found guilty.
The head of the mission (Monuc) in Bunia, Dominique McAdams, also denounced what she implied was a free hand given to UN peacekeepers deployed in the Ituri region.
"There is a kind of impunity here that we have to end by punishing this kind of act", McAdams said in an interview with AFP.
On Thursday Monuc announced it was investigating charges that UN peacekeepers were involved in 30 cases of alleged sexual abuse against minors in Ituri. At UN headquarters in New York, a spokesperson said that both military and non-military personnel were being investigated.
Congolese police have said several complaints have been lodged against UN soldiers, often involving the rape of girls as young as 12.
They said Moroccan soldiers participating in the UN mission were the primary suspects, but that some of the Uruguayans stationed at a displaced persons' camp outside town were also allegedly involved.
One UN mission member already found responsible has been sent home to face justice, the UN in New York said without identifying the person or the country of origin.
"I demanded that the person leave immediately, even if the inquiry had not established all the fact," McAdams said.
She added that locals in Ituri were particularly vulnerable after years of protacted conflict and displacement.
"People here are fragile. Add that to poverty - not only economic poverty but also the fact that having lost that which brings respect, and dignity. It is not acceptable that those who come here to help end up increasing their distress."
The UN force took over last year from French-led European Union troops to restore security in this eastern area, riven by inter-ethnic violence that has cost 50 000 lives and displaced about 500 000 since 1999.
Out of over 10 000 soldiers serving in MONUC across the sprawling central African country, there are about 4 700 in Ituri, mostly in Bunia but also in about 10 other places.
Victim
One of the alleged rape victims, only 14, holds back her tears when telling her story.
"He offered me money. I didn't want any, and then he started to force me, to push me," Huguette said.
Her mother said the rapist was a Moroccan member of a blue helmet contingent located near the family home who assaulted Huguette last month.
"It was a Tuesday around 14:00 My daughter left the house. I thought she had gone to get water. When I noticed she was late, I went looking for her," said Beatrice Zaimi.
The mother found her, in a house along the route to the water source. "I went in and saw a Moroccan in the middle of (raping) my daughter."
The soldier fled when Beatrice arrived. Mother and daughter went directly to the police, then to the hospital, where exams were taken, they said.
"What hurts the most," said Huguette's father Dieudonne Mbutiabo, "is that they sent us these soldiers to protect us and now they are starting to ruin our children."
In other cases of alleged sexual assault, the details are less clear. One woman, a 17-year-old girl, said she had drunk with some UN soldiers in April, was apparently raped afterward and was now pregnant.
"I remember having drunk with three Nepalese (men). It was gin mixed with Fanta. Then I don't remember a thing, but when I woke up friends told me I had been raped," she said.