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UN / CAR SEXUAL ABUSE PANEL
STORY: UN / CAR SEXUAL ABUSE PANEL
TRT: 01:56
SOURCE: UNIFEED-UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 17 DECEMBER 2015, UNITED NATIONS / RECENT, NEW YORK CITY, USA
RECENT, NEW YORK CITY, USA
1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations Headquarters
17 DECEMBER 2015, UNITED NATIONS
2. Wide shot, press briefing in progress
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Marie Deschamps, former Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada:
“Documents pass from inbox to inbox, where anyone can think someone else will take responsibility. Most importantly the lack of coordination between policies, leaves most victims unattended and vulnerable.”
4. Wide shot, press briefing in progress
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Marie Deschamps, former Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada:
“The shortcoming in the policies materialised in the response of the UN to the allegations in CAR. Instead of reporting the allegations in an urgent manner as the egregiousness of the alleged conduct dictated, they were kept quiet. As those who followed the matter know, it took months before France was given details of the allegations.”
6. Wide shot, press briefing in progress
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Marie Deschamps, former Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada:
“While human rights officers and UNICEF staff initially investigated the allegations there was no follow up to the interviews. Those UN staff, who came across the information, did not feel concerned or took the position that someone else should address or was addressing the problem.”
8. Wide shot, press briefing in progress
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Marie Deschamps, former Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada:
“In all view, this was a serious failure. Not only did this show abuse of authority by senior officials on an individual basis but it also highlights deficiencies at institutional level.”
10. Wide shot, press briefing in progress
The Chair of the review panel that investigated allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse of children by foreign military forces in the Central African Republic, said today (17 Dec) UN staff handling of the accusations amounted to a “serious failure”.
In the spring of 2014, allegations came to light that international troops serving as peacekeepers in CAR had sexually abused a number of young children in exchange for food or money. The alleged perpetrators were largely from a French military force known as Sangaris, which was operating under authorization of the Security Council but not under UN command.
The Report found that three UN officials abused their authority: the then head of the human rights component of the UN mission in CAR (MINUSCA); the then Secretary-General’s Special Representative and head of MINUSCA; and the then Under-Secretary-General for the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS).
According to Marie Deschamps, former Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, the panel found that, within the UN, responding to allegations of sexual violence is the responsibility of many but of no one in particular, resulting in a situation where documents “pass from inbox to inbox” and everyone thinks that someone else will take responsibility.
“Most importantly the lack of coordination between policies, leaves most victims unattended and vulnerable,” Deschamps told a news conference at the UN Headquarters, in which she was joined by fellow panellists Yasmin Sooka, the Executive Director of the Foundation for Human Rights in South Africa, and Hassan Jallow, the Prosecutor of the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).
Deschamps said the shortcomings in the policies materialized in the response of the UN to the allegations in CAR.
“Instead of reporting the allegations in an urgent manner as the egregiousness of the alleged conduct dictated, they were kept quiet. As those who followed the matter know, it took months before France was given details of the allegations,” the Chair said.
In addition, she noted that while a human rights officer and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) staff initially investigated the allegations, there was no follow-up to the interviews.
“Those UN staff, who came across the information, did not feel concerned or took the position that someone else should address or was addressing the problem,” she said.
“In all view, this was a serious failure. Not only did this show abuse of authority by senior officials on an individual basis but it also highlights deficiencies at institutional level,” Deschamps concluded.
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