By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, November 9 -- In the wake of the scandal of UN peacekeepers' inaction in Eastern Congo as hundreds of women were raped 20 kilometers from the base of the UN's MONUSCO mission, it was announced that communications for the villagers would be improved, so they could call for her.
On November 9 Inner City Press asked the UN's Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict Margot Wallstrom for an update. Ms. Wallstrom said that MONUSCO has “bought the equipment” but is now trying to figure out “how to deploy it without exposing [the villagers] to more danger.”
The equipment, she said, is expensive, and rebels and presumably others may want to steal it. It seems this should have been thought out, and that some improvement should actually have been in place on the ground by now.
Ms. Wallstrom described some new “tricks,” as she called them, such as changing battalions in such a way that the troops that are being rotated out remain there for a while, to give the impression of double strength.
On the new round of rapes on the Congolese border with Angola, Wallstrom said an investigation is being conducted, that “MONUSCO has to decide where to have troops.”
She was asked about the UN disciplining its peacekeepers for sexual abuse or exploitation. She said it is up to the troop contributing countries and that “the UN's capacity to follow up is limited.”
But the UN chooses to not even report which countries discipline their repatriated peacekeepers, much less condition future service and payments on a country imposing discipline where necessary.
Inner City Press asked about rapes in the camps in Haiti and what the UN or Wallstrom's office is doing. She said that the number of rapes in Haiti was “high before” the earthquake, and that many of the IDP camps were “spontaneous” and so “unprotected.”
Wallstrom said that Haiti is not on her work list, she looked into whether it would be helpful, where her office can bring “added value” -- not Haiti, apparently. Nor did she even once mention Myanmar, where rape is without question used as a tool of war.
In the audience at the UN University event were at least two Swedes. One loudly congratulated Wallstrom; the other asked about her two year mandate. Wallstrom said pointedly that she would stay for the two years. Earlier during the election, there was talk of her decamping for a post if her party won. But it did not. And now she is in, soon to visit Bosnia and troop contributing countries. The issue is important, and so we wish her luck.
Footnote: in other rumors of revolving doors, now people are saying that the only recently installed head of UNESCO Irina Bokova is considering running for office back in Bulgaria. A high UN official told Inner City Press on November 9 that Bokova could probably not have run if she'd remained an ambassador, but by stepping out into the UN system, she could return. The UN is being used, she said.
