Babacar Gaye resigned his post as Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) this week. Credit: UN Photo/Loey Felipe

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Aug 14 2015 (IPS)

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stopped short of telling one his high-ranking Special Representatives: “You’re fired.”

If he did, he was only echoing the now-famous words of a U.S. presidential candidate, Donald Trump, who is best known for frequently dismissing his staffers, using that catch phrase, in a long-running reality TV show.

Following the alleged outrageous rape of a 12-year girl by peacekeeping troops in the Central African Republic (CAR) — adding to 11 other cases of sexual abuse in the battle-scarred country — the secretary-general unceremoniously forced the resignation of his highest-ranking official, Babacar Gaye of Senegal.

The dismissal has been described as “unprecedented” in the 70-year history of the United Nations.

As U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters: “It is not something that I have seen in terms of Special Representatives in the field in the 15 years that I’ve been here, an action taken like this by a Secretary‑General.”

But in a bygone era, U.N. jobs, like most dictatorial Third World presidencies, were for life – until you hit the retirement age of 60 (or 62 now, and 65 in the future).

The most that would happen for any infractions is a U.N. staffer taking early retirement – either gracefully or disgracefully.

The rule is best exemplified in a long running anecdote here of a secretary, enraged at her boss, who picked up her typewriter and threw it at him, many moons ago. But because she held a life-time job, so the story goes, she couldn’t be fired from her job.

However, the end result was a memo from the human resources department to all divisional heads at the U.N. urging them to nail all typewriters to their desks.

The story may be apocryphal but it reflected the long standing professional lifestyle at the 39-storeyed glass house by the East River.

Ian Richards, President of the Coordinating Committee of International Staff Unions and Associations (CCISUA), told IPS: “I cannot recall a political appointee being fired.”

The usual practice, even for incompetent assistant secretaries-general (ASGs) or under-secretaries-general (USGs), has been to let their contracts lapse, or ease them out by retiring them or moving them sideways to a non-job, he said.

“Cases of staff being terminated are very rare and usually for disciplinary reasons. However, there have been cases where contracts have not been renewed, usually citing performance difficulties, but which we believe to have been abusive circumstances. But it’s thankfully rare,” said Richards.

Where there is a big concern going forward is the General Assembly’s approval of a new mobility policy under which appointments and moves of D-1 and D-2 staff – both at director levels — will be managed by the Secretary-General’s office (making them virtually political appointments and not regular staffers).

“This could have serious repercussions as those who don’t toe the line could be threatened with a move to an undesirable duty station,” he added.

In closed-door consultations with the 15-member Security Council Thursday, the secretary general said: “I cannot express strongly enough my distress and shame over reports of sexual exploitation and the abuse of power by U.N. forces, police or civilian personnel.”

With respect to the allegations and cases in the Central African Republic, the time had come for a strong signal that leaders will be held responsible, he said.

“This is why I asked for the resignation of General Babacar Gaye despite his long and illustrious service to the United Nations.”

Ban said an effective response demands accountability — individual, leadership, command level, as well accountability by the Organisation and by Member States.

“In the case of peacekeeping missions, accountability begins at the top, with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, and carries through each level of management and command.”

On Friday, he convened an extraordinary meeting of his Special Representatives, Force Commanders and Police Commissioners in all 16 peacekeeping missions to send the unequivocal message that they are obligated – every day and every night – to enforce the highest standards of conduct for all.

He also said it is critical that Troop Contributing Countries take swift action to appoint national investigation officers, conclude investigations and hold perpetrators accountable.

It is squarely their responsibility to ensure justice and to communicate to the Secretariat the results of their actions.

“All too often this is not done quickly enough – and in the most frustrating cases, it is not done at all,” Ban said.

“When the Secretariat does receive information about the actions taken in substantiated cases of sexual exploitation and abuse, I am frustrated by what appear to be far too lenient sanctions for such grave acts affecting men, women and, all too often, children.”

A failure to pursue criminal accountability for sexual crimes is tantamount to impunity, he warned.

“That injustice is a second blow to the victims – and a tacit pass for the crimes we are trying so hard to end.”

Referring to the firing of the Special Representative, Dujarric told reporters: “As you know, the Secretary-General did not take this action based on one particular case.”

He took it based on the repeated number of cases of sexual abuse and misconduct that have taken place in the Central African Republic.

“According to our numbers, we had 57 allegations of possible misconduct in the Central African Republic reported since the beginning of the mission in April 2014. And that includes 11 cases of sexual abuse, possible sexual abuse. Those cases are being investigated,” he added.

Deployed in early 2014, the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the CAR, known by the French acronym MINUSCA and headed by the dismissed Gaye, has been trying to defuse sectarian tensions across that country.

More than two years of civil war and violence have displaced thousands of people amid ongoing clashes between the mainly Muslim Séléka alliance and anti-Balaka militia, which are mostly Christian, according to the United Nations.

In addition, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a militant group, continues to operate in the south-eastern part of the country.

Edited by Kitty Stapp

The writer can be contacted at thalifdeen@aol.com

A Uruguayan peacekeeper with UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) watches as the helicopter carrying Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Hervé Ladsous, makes its way back toward Goma after Mrs. Ladsous’ visit in Pinga, North Kivu Province. Credit: UN Photo/Sylvain Liechti

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Jun 17 2015 (IPS)

Back in November 2007, about 108 military personnel from an Asian country, serving with the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Haiti, were deported home after being accused of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of minors.

After their return, one of the expelled peacekeepers was quoted in a local newspaper as saying, rather defiantly, “What do you expect us to do when the U.N. is providing us with free condoms?”“I believe that an unstable place with a weak (or no) government may create a sensation of lack of accountability, of power over the local population and a few individuals might feel free to engage in unacceptable behaviour." -- Barbara Tavora-Jainchill

But then all those free condoms were being provided to prevent sexually-transmitted diseases and not to encourage sexual abuse.

As a result of the widespread sexual abuse with peacekeeping missions, the United Nations plans to set up an independent review panel calling for recommendations specifically to prevent these crimes and also to hold those responsible accountable for their deeds and mete out punishments.

But as a preventive measure, would it help if peacekeepers and U.N. staffers are sent on overseas missions along with their wives, partners and families?

Pursuing this line of thinking, Joe Lauria, U.N. correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, told IPS, “Perhaps the U.N. should look into making it possible for U.N. peacekeepers to have their wives and girlfriends and children live with them during their deployment.”

He said he realised it would be an added expense for the U.N. to transport them and perhaps to find suitable housing on U.N. peacekeeping bases.

“But the potential benefits of cutting down on what is an epidemic — of U.N. peacekeepers sexually abusing the people they are sworn to protect — could be immense. It is difficult to understand why the U.N. has never thought of this before.”

Lauria also said there is a longstanding tradition throughout military history of soldiers allowing their wives to accompany them– even to the front.

Two examples are in ancient Rome and in the American Civil War. And U.N. peacekeepers are rarely in combat situations, so the logistics are simpler, he said.

Today U.S. troops stationed at bases abroad, such as in Germany or South Korea, are allowed to live with their families. The wives and girlfriends of U.N. peacekeepers could be expected to live from the salaries of the peacekeepers, perhaps with an additional stipend, he argued.

“It would be troubling for the U.N. not to look into this possibility given all the negative fallout for the organisation, not to mention the serious harm done to the victims of U.N. peacekeeper’s sexual abuse,” said Lauria.

When he raised this issue at a press briefing last week, U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said that virtually all of the peacekeeping operations, with a couple of exceptions like Cyprus, are “non‑family duty stations for the civilian staff.”

“You raise a point that’s interesting, that I don’t know the answer to. I don’t believe uniformed peacekeepers or police officers are able to bring their spouses along,” he said.

Pressed further by Lauria, Dujarric said: “I think I see where… where you’re going, but I think the issue of abuse of power, of sexual abuse needs to be fought, regardless of what those rules may be.”

Since the United Nations has no political or legal authority to penalise military personnel, most of them escape punishment for their criminal activities because national governments have either refused or have been slow in meting out justice within their own court systems.

Ian Richards, president of the Coordinating Committee of International Staff Unions and Associations (CCISUA), representing 60,000 staff working at the United Nations, told IPS that as far as it concerns U.N. civilian staff, “I’m not sure you can draw a link between the two.”

“We have over 21,000 civilian colleagues in field and peacekeeping operations, doing a great job and almost all in what are called non-family duty stations. Yet reported sexual abuse by staff, while horrific, remains extremely low,” he said.

Three staff were reported, investigated and fired for sexual abuse last year.

“So these are very specific cases rather than a generalised trend. All U.N. staff are aware of the organisation’s zero-tolerance approach to sexual abuse and sign a declaration on this when they’re recruited.

“Therefore, I’m not sure that absent spouses is an issue in this sense. In any case, non-family duty stations are declared as such because they are in conflict zones or prone to rebel or terrorist activity. They’re not places to bring spouses or children,” Richards added.

A U.N. staffer, speaking on condition of anonymity, told IPS there were some U.N. civilian staffers, based in a virtual war zone in Iraq, who housed their families in neighbouring Kuwait, but at their own expense.

But staffers serving in these missions are well remunerated with “hazard pay allowances” (HPA) and “mission subsistence allowances” (MSA).

A senior U.N. official told IPS it is very unlikely that wives and families will be permitted in overseas missions, specifically high risk missions, because it would be difficult to ensure their security (and it will double or triple the U.N.’s current burden of protecting staffers).

Barbara Tavora-Jainchill, president of the U.N. Staff Union in New York, told IPS even though being away from the family brings stress, “I believe that an unstable place with a weak (or no) government may create a sensation of lack of accountability, of power over the local population and a few individuals might feel free to engage in unacceptable behaviour.

“Accountability should be strengthened in peacekeeping and political missions and the U.N. should adopt a serious whistleblower policy, because sometimes whistleblowers are the ones who make accountability possible,” she added.

Meanwhile a High-Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations, chaired by former President of Timor-Leste Ramos-Horta, has released a report with a comprehensive assessment of the state of U.N. peace operations and the emerging needs of the future.

At a press conference Tuesday, Ramos-Horta emphasised the United Nations had “zero tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse.”

He said sexual abuse by peacekeepers “rocks and undermines the most important power the United Nations possesses: its integrity.”

Edited by Kitty Stapp

The writer can be contacted at thalifdeen@aol.com

Patients wait at the Kaga Bandoro Hospital in Central CAR. An estimated 35 percent of the population is particularly vulnerable and in need of life-saving assistance. Credit: Gregoire Pourtier/cc by 2.0

By Samuel Oakford
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 6 2013 (IPS)

The United Nations Security Council voted unanimously Thursday to authorise the deployment of thousands of French and African Union troops in the Central African Republic but stopped short of approving a full U.N. peacekeeping force in the country.

The French-backed resolution came amidst increased violence in the capital, Bangui, where Christian militias unexpectedly launched repeated attacks, reaching as far as the Presidential Palace.“The French were expecting to be asked to fight against Seleka, but now perhaps they will have to fight the anti-balaka as well.” -- Thierry Vircoulon

Medicins Sans Frontieres doctors in Bangui confirmed the presence of 50 bodies, bringing the number of casualties in the capital to at least 98. The BBC reported that a mosque in one of Bangui’s Muslim neighbourhoods was filled with victims of clashes.

And in Bossangoa, 300 kms north of Bangui, a standoff continued outside a Catholic church where an estimated 35,000 Christians have taken refuge. Local peacekeepers have attempted to head off attacks from Seleka units – the largely Muslim rebel group that ousted President François Bozizé in March – who claim armed elements are among the refugees.

France’s contingent of 600 troops already in the country is set to be doubled before the week is out and French President François Hollande announced from Paris that military operations would begin “immediately” to secure Bangui and major international roads that an estimated 400,000 refugees have used to flee the violence.

Yet with much of the violence taking place in rural areas, the peacekeeping force may not be able to reach all conflict zones.

At nightfall, Bangui was still nominally under the control of Seleka, but attacks throughout the day by “anti-balaka” Christian militias reportedly loyal to Bozizé caught residents and peacekeepers off guard.

Aware that French forces were expected to arrive shortly, the militias perhaps “wanted to take the opportunity to attack,” said Thierry Vircoulon, project director for Central Africa at the International Crisis Group.  “Now everyone is worried about night attacks by the anti-balaka.”

“The French were expecting to be asked to fight against Seleka, but now perhaps they will have to fight the anti-balaka as well,” Vircoulon told IPS.

Following their March victory, Seleka’s leader Michel Djotodia was installed as interim president.

But Djotodia’s September announcement that the rebel group would be disbanded set off a period of lawlessness and killings that culminated in Thursday’s Security Council vote.

The existing contingent of 2,500 regional peacekeepers in the country has been hamstrung by a lack of financing and disorganisation.

Since the capture of Bangui, the Seleka has been accused by international aid groups and the U.N. of deliberately targeting civilians.

Despite a post-independence history of conflict, the country has remained relatively free from the religious unrest that has plagued other Sahel nations.

But as Seleka reels from a concerted counterattack by militias, there are concerns that reprisals will mount against the country’s ever more defenceless Muslim minority.

After the vote, French Representative Gérard Araud told reporters the “conflict is increasingly taking a sectarian turn, with violence erupting between Christians and Muslims – in this context, history has taught us that the worst may happen, history has taught us that the Security Council needs to act.”

One source close to the Security Council told IPS that the decision to hold off on a full-fledged “blue-helmet” U.N. mission came in part as a result of U.S. mission-fatigue and  a reluctance to finance another prolonged presence on the continent. Instead, the U.N. will set up a trust fund for donor countries.

In July 2014, when the Security Council will review progress in the country, it will have the option to convert the African troops into a U.N. peacekeeping force if the security situation has not been resolved.

But unlike France’s intervention in Mali earlier this year, the military mission in the Central African Republic is expected to be brief. Stabilising the country could require a long-term development presence that France and neighbouring countries may not be prepared to offer.

But the decision was also seen as lending confidence to the African Union, which will take over control of the regional force, now called MISCA, and increase its numbers from 2,500 to 3,500.

“It fits into this recent trend of trying to find African solutions to African problems,” said Evan Cinq-Mars, a research analyst at the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect. “That’s certainly something the African Union wants and the Security Council is interested in.”

The intervention is reminiscent of a similar French-supported mission that stabilised the Central African Republic in 1997.  Like Thursday’s resolution, the Security Council sanctioned deployment under Chapter VII of the U.N. Charter, but when the French grew tired of a prolonged mission, they reduced their operations in the country and the U.N. had to scramble to come up with a peacekeeping mission to augment weaker local forces.

“CAR suffers from neglect until intervention is needed,” Cinq-Mars told IPS. “And that’s a strategy that just can’t continue. Because I’m certain that these last-minute interventions cost more than making a significant investment in the Central African Republic now to ensure this is the last time the council has to deal with such a serious situation.”

Togolese Soldiers line up on the tarmac after arriving at Bamako Senou International Airport in Mali in early February, 2013. The soldiers are a small part of the African-led International Support Mission to Mali. Credit: Thomas Martinez/IPS

By Soumaila T. Diarra
BAMAKO , Feb 13 2013 (IPS)

Soldiers belonging to the African-led International Support Mission to Mali continue to stream into this West African nation, as several hundred troops have already been deployed to secure towns across the country.

Troops from Benin, Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal – representing the Community of West African States (ECOWAS) contingent of AFISMA – are among the recent arrivals in Bamako. According to a source close to the Malian Ministry of Defence, over 5,000 West African soldiers will be stationed in Mali before the end of February and about half of these have already arrived.

The central Malian town of Markala is currently host to 600 troops from Burkina Faso.

“We have felt safer since the arrival of the Burkinabé soldiers. They are based at the military school and have not given anyone any problems,” Markala Mayor Demba Diallo told IPS.

“Hardly five minutes go by without seeing Burkinabé soldiers on patrol. They have secured the town and surrounding areas,” Diallo added.

In the nearby town of Ségou, 250 Nigerian soldiers are stationed, while Togolese forces are stationed in San, a town a little further to the north. Troops arrived directly from Niamey and Niger to their base in Gao, one of the largest cities of northern Mali,  which was recently liberated from Islamist occupation by French troops.

France launched a military intervention in Mali on Jan. 11 at the request of the country’s interim President Dioncounda Traoré after extremists advanced on the town of Konna, 60 kilometres northeast of Mopti. Since April 2012 about two-thirds of the country had been occupied by Islamist rebels. Following the successful intervention, France now plans to pull its troops out by the end of March.

Negotiations have begun to place ECOWAS troops under United Nations command. However, the BBC reported that United Nations official Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson Tuesday, Feb. 12, said that the Malian government was “hesitant” to allow a U.N. peacekeeping force in the country.

“To date, between 65 to 70 percent of the AFISMA contingent is now in Mali,” Colonel Yao Adjoumani, the AFISMA spokesperson, told a press conference in Bamako on Feb. 6.

Adjoumani also announced that Guinean troops had crossed the Malian border, adding that the AFISMA mission will be fully deployed by mid-February. However, he declined to reveal the total number of troops, their stations and the deployment timetable, citing security reasons.

Meanwhile, senior government officials have called for unity among the Malian army.

Internal clashes rocked the Malian capital, Bamako, last Friday, Feb. 8, when gun battles erupted between the Red Beret units who support deposed President Amadou Toumani Touré, and the Green Berets who back the March 2012 coup leaders. The Malian army ousted the democratically elected civilian government last March.

Hospital sources have reported that two teenagers were killed and 13 people sustained gunshot wounds during the fighting.

Mahamane Cissé, a senior official in Gao, told IPS via telephone: “Right now, Mali needs a united army. We have to focus on the country’s total liberation. Once that is achieved, the army can work out its differences.”

The U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) has resumed the distribution of food aid to the north of the country. The organisation had stopped food aid deliveries following the outbreak of fighting in January.

“Food deliveries to northern towns like Timbuktu, Goundam and Niafunké have started by boat,” the WFP communications chief, Daouda Guirou, told IPS.

The opening of the Sevar-Douentza highway has made it possible to deliver food to Gao. “Food distribution to residents will begin shortly,” Guirou confirmed.