Tropas uruguayas y marroquíes acusadas de abusar sexualmente de chicas congoleñas. : Indymedia Uruguay

<http://www.unwire.org/UNWire/20040525/449_24228.asp>

U.N. Peacekeepers Sexually Abusing Girls In D.R.C. Camp

Tuesday, May 25, 2004

Teenage girls in the Democratic Republic of the Congo who were repeatedly raped by militiamen are being sexually exploited by U.N. peacekeepers who give the girls food in exchange for sex, the London Independent reports, giving details on allegations that have resulted in a U.N. inquiry.

Girls and aid workers say the girls crawl through gaps in a wire fence adjacent to a U.N. compound each night to sell sex to Moroccan and Uruguayan soldiers in return for items such as a banana or cake, usually to feed their infant children who resulted from multiple rapes by militiamen.

"It is easy for us to get to the U.N. soldiers," said a 13-year-old girl named Faela. "We climb through the fence when it is dark, sometimes once a night, sometimes more."

Faela described life in the camp in Bunia, a volatile town in northeastern D.R.C., raising a 6-month-old child. She became pregnant with her son after repeated rapes by numerous men in her village.

"It is hard in the camp for the girls like me with little babies and no husbands. We have no men to look after us," Faela said. "We have been dirtied by the soldiers who came to our villages. No one will take us as their wives and it is hard to get food in the camp for us," she said.

The exploitation is occurring despite a pledge by the United Nations to have a "zero tolerance" policy toward its workers who commit sexual abuse. Dominique McAdams, head of the U.N. mission in Bunia, said she believed sexual abuse was taking place but had seen no evidence.

The Independent says it interviewed more than 30 girls over five days, half of whom said they went to the peacekeepers through gaps in the camp fence.

An employee of Atlas, the aid organization that manages the camp, confirmed staff members were aware of the misconduct but afraid to confront it.

"There is nothing to stop them and the girls need food. It is best to keep quiet, though," he said. "I am frightened that if I say something I may lose my job and I have children of my own to feed."

While the United Nations has pledged to use "all available sanctions" against violators, there are doubts about whether any change will result from the inquiry or if any of the guilty will be brought to justice, the Independent reports (Cahal Milmo, London Independent, May 25).

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