The U.S. State Department has addressed the issue of enslavement by U.N. peacekeepers in its latest Report on Human Trafficking.
According to the analysis:
Countries that send troops to participate in peacekeeping missions should be responsible for training their troops on human trafficking and holding those troops accountable if they engage, while on such missions, in inappropriate behavior, including human trafficking. Unfortunately, accountability for peacekeepers complicit in human trafficking has persisted as a serious challenge for governments and the international community.
As early as 2004, the UN drew attention to this issue in its report on sexual exploitation by UN peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo, highlighting the lack of compliance by troop-sending countries with the UN’s official policy against sexual exploitation and abuse. In some cases, peacekeepers have sexually abused or sexually exploited women and girls, including in sex trafficking, such as by threatening their access to food and other necessities to coerce them into sex. Victims in such cases also face enormous pressure not to report these crimes and abuses or the peacekeepers who committed them, and local authorities rarely have the capacity proactively to identify victims of these crimes. The UN and international community have attempted to address the challenges in holding peacekeepers accountable for sexual exploitation and abuse since reports of abuse emerged in the early 2000s.
Between 2007 and 2019, the UN received 1,033 allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse, including instances of sex trafficking, by UN peacekeeping mission members. During the 13-year stabilization mission in Haiti, peacekeepers allegedly coerced women and girls into sex in exchange for necessities such as food. Reports implicate UN personnel from 13 countries. In 2017, media alleged peacekeepers exploited nine Haitian children in a sex trafficking ring. There were reports that soldiers deployed as UN peacekeepers to Liberia sexually exploited women and children, including in sex trafficking, from 2003-2017. In 2015 and 2016, the UN and NGOs reported peacekeepers from 10 countries coerced internally displaced persons into sex in exchange for food and necessities while participating in the UN peacekeeping force in Central African Republic (CAR).
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In 2016 and 2018, the UN Security Council adopted two resolutions to strengthen the UN’s response to peacekeeper abuses, including a provision supporting the repatriation of the entire country unit in cases of alleged sexual exploitation and abuse where the relevant government has not taken appropriate steps toward accountability, and a provision calling for evaluation of peacekeeping personnel and greater transparency in how such evaluations ensure accountability. Since then, the UN has taken additional steps to withhold payments for accused uniformed personnel, maintain a transparent website that identifies the nationalities of uniformed peacekeepers accused of sexual exploitation and abuse, and share updates on investigations and actions taken by the UN and troop- and police-contributing countries. This information allows other countries to press governments for investigations and accountability against the perpetrators. Further, UN performance reviews of allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation have resulted in the withdrawal of contingents and the use of other mitigating measures. Additionally, the UN Secretary-General has requested countries establish on-site court martial proceedings when allegations arise involving military contingents to improve access to justice for victims. As of December 2019, Egypt, Bangladesh, and South Africahad conducted such on-site court martial proceedings.
In recent years, the UN Secretary-General has sought to improve the UN’s response to victims of sexual exploitation and abuse. Staff serving as victim rights advocates are now posted in high-risk peacekeeping operations to provide victims with adequate protection, appropriate assistance, and reliable recourse to justice. In 2019, these advocates worked with other UN entities, served as the primary interlocutor with victims of sexual exploitation and abuse, and initiated a pilot mapping exercise to identify best practices, gaps, areas of overlap, and lessons learned in victims’ rights approaches and available services. The results of this study will identify existing gaps in service provision and provide recommendations for improvement.
Even though the lack of accountability for public officials complicit in sexual exploitation and abuse is not limited to peacekeepers, the international community must increase pressure on governments to hold accountable those who participate in multinational forces to maintain peace and protect vulnerable populations under the auspices of the UN, NATO, or other organizations. The UN and other organizations carrying out peace operations, and troop- and police-contributing countries must reflect on peacekeepers’ positions of power and privilege relative to the host population and the myriad ways this dynamic contributes to sexual exploitation and abuse. Troop- and police-contributing countries must review, amend, or develop laws to allow prosecution of such crimes when committed by their personnel while serving overseas. Holding individuals accountable for the exploitation of vulnerable populations will bring new trust and honor to peacekeeping missions. The current culture of impunity threatens to tarnish irreparably the important mission of peacekeepers.
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