donderdag, april 30, 2015

de trog en de geitenpaden in de himalya

The Tablet

An Irish Columban priest has told a hearing of the US Congress that if child trafficking in the Philippines is to be tackled properly, then it will be necessary to reform the police and the judiciary.

Fr Shay Cullen, founder and president of the Preda Foundation, which has worked for four decades to protect street children and tackle sex tourism in the Philippines, said that “while the Philippines Government is striving to address the problem of human trafficking and improve the record of convictions much remains to be done”.

He called for local government to stop issuing permits and licences to sex bars that take in trafficked persons. Children trafficked must have greater protection and those responsible “must be prosecuted in a robust manner with integrity”, he said.

Fr Cullen testified on 22 April in Washington before a hearing of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organisations on the fight against human trafficking. The committee was instrumental in getting the latest anti-trafficking law passed by the US Congress on the same day.

Sex tourism is growing, reported Fr Cullen, along with human trafficking of minors from rural villages, mostly in Samar and Leyte. He spoke of the exploitation of street children for begging and drug deliveries by criminal gangs. When apprehended by the police, children as young as eight are held in prison-like conditions instead of being helped as victims, he said.





ik  heb nou eenmaal ook gewoon de pest aan bungeejumpen

Komt door die 3 % regel  






Hoeveel kost het en wie betaalt?

Eigen Kracht-conferenties zijn in bijna heel Nederland beschikbaar. Steeds vaker beseffen we dat burgers niet geholpen worden doordat overheid of organisaties de regie overnemen. Voor burgers is het essentieel de regie te voeren over hun eigen leven. Ook als het tegenzit is eigen regie en eigen kracht belangrijk. Veel gemeenten en provincies stellen dan ook hun burgers in staat in regie te blijven door voor hen een Eigen Kracht-conferentie te financieren. Ook zijn er hulpverleningsinstellingen die de rekening voor een Eigen Kracht-conferentie betalen. Het is ook voorgekomen dat een familie zelf wilde bijdragen.

Kosten

De kosten van Eigen Kracht-conferenties bedragen tussen € 1.900,- (conferenties bij leervragen) en € 4.500,- (conferenties voor een groep, wijk of buurt). Hiervoor gaat een onafhankelijke Eigen Kracht-coördinator (deze is niet in dienst bij de Eigen Kracht Centrale, overheid of hulpverleningsinstelling) aan de slag. De Eigen Kracht Centrale zorgt daarnaast voor de training van de Eigen Kracht-coördinatoren, coaching van de coördinatoren, allerlei praktische zaken voor de Eigen Kracht-coördinator (telefoon, e-mail, ondersteuning, administratie), de materialen voor de conferentie en alle contacten met overheid en hulpverleners om uit te leggen wat het werken vanuit de Eigen Kracht-visie betekent.

Waarde en opbrengsten

Tegenover de kosten van een Eigen Kracht-conferentie staan de opbrengsten. Die zijn voor een deel niet financieel, denk aan de snelheid waarmee er actie komt in de kring van mensen rond de hoofdpersoon, de directe verbetering van de situatie van betrokken kinderen en gezinnen, de grotere sociale cohesie en actieve betrokkenheid van familie en omgeving tijdens de Eigen Kracht-conferentie en bij de uitvoering van het plan.
En voor een groot deel zijn de opbrengsten juist wel financieel. Terwijl Eigen Kracht-conferenties niet op kostenbesparing zijn gericht, blijkt dat wel een belangrijke opbrengst te zijn. Uit onderzoek onder 100 gezinnen in Amsterdam bleek een besparing (na aftrek van de kosten van de Eigen Kracht-conferentie) van maar liefst 17 duizend euro per conferentie het resultaat. Ander onderzoek naar Multi Probleem Gezinnen laat per 100 gezinnen een (potentiele) besparing van maar liefst 4,8 miljoen euro zien. Voor de vele onderzoeken naar de opbrengsten van Eigen Kracht-conferenties, zie de link naar de onderzoeksresultaten in het menu in de linkerkolom.

Aanvraag en wie betaalt

Een regiomanager van de Eigen Kracht Centrale kijkt of een aanvraag past binnen de overeenkomsten die er zijn met overheden en instellingen. Is dit het geval, dan kan de organisatie van een Eigen Kracht-conferentie van start gaan. Wanneer iemand een plan nodig heeft en er is geen duidelijkheid over de financiering, dan zoekt de regiomanager samen met deze persoon naar een mogelijkheid.

Je zou er toch een CVS van krijgen

Meldpunt seksueel misbruik kerk nu echt dicht 


















Het Meldpunt Seksueel Misbruik in de Rooms-Katholieke Kerk is vanaf morgen gesloten. Slachtoffers die nog willen klagen over misbruik in de kerk moeten zich vanaf morgen bij hun eigen parochie of bij slachtoffergroepen als KLOKK melden. Klagen over overleden religieuzen of over zaken die ondertussen zijn verjaard, is formeel niet meer mogelijk.
Het meldpunt werd in 2011 in het leven geroepen, toen er steeds meer naar buiten kwam over seksuele wantoestanden op (kost-)scholen, in kerken en bij katholieke verenigingen. Sinds 2011 zijn ruim 3500 zaken behandeld, laat het meldpunt weten. Er is meer dan 18 miljoen euro aan schadevergoedingen uitgekeerd.

De Bisschoppenconferentie wilde in juli vorig jaar al stoppen met het meldpunt, omdat er steeds minder klachten binnenkwamen. Maar de rechter bepaalde dat de einddatum te plotseling was gekomen en dat het meldpunt tot 1 mei 2015 open moest blijven. De rest van dit jaar worden nog lopende zaken afgehandeld.
(Bewerkt door: Redactie)

bron

Vrouwenplatform Kerkelijk Kindermisbruik 
29-4-2015


Morgen is er Algemeen Overleg in de kamercommissie van Justitie, van 10 tot 13.00 u. Het overleg is openbaar. Hieronder de notities die we gisteren aan de kamerleden en de minister gestuurd hebben.




Morgen is er Algemeen Overleg in de kamercommissie van Justitie, van 10 tot 13.00 u. Het overleg is openbaar. Hieronder de notities die we gisteren aan de kamerleden en de minister gestuurd hebben.

Geachte kamerleden,

Wij waarderen uw initiatief om de sluiting van de klachtencommissie voor seksueel misbruik in de Rk kerk opnieuw te bespreken in de kamer. Wij verzoeken u te pleiten voor openhouden van de klachtencommissie in de huidige vorm.

Om te beginnen begrijpen wij heel goed en betreuren dat ook, dat dit verleden voor de Rk kerk heel zwaar ligt. Zeker waar het gaat om `guilt by association` die ervaren wordt door religieuzen. 

Onze zorg gaat echter in eerste instantie uit naar de slachtoffers van het geweld en misbruik in hun kinderjaren. Zij moeten niet degenen zijn die dat gewicht nog steeds te dragen krijgen. In die gevallen waar de kerk als organisatie verantwoordelijkheid neemt voor het misbruik, neemt dat de last weg bij zowel de individuele slachtoffers als de individuele religieuzen. Daarbij is extern toezicht door de politiek onmisbaar.

Graag willen wij u daarom de volgende overwegingen voorleggen.

In het voorzittersoverleg van Klokk met BC en KNR zijn wij niet vertegenwoordigd. Het besluit tot sluiting van de klachtencommissie komt niet voort uit het belang van de slachtoffers.

Op 14 maart j.l. tekenden 53 vrouwen een verzoek aan BC en KNR om de huidige klachtencommissie open te houden, en de belofte van openheid waar te maken. Aanwezigen vertelden wat erkenning voor hen heeft betekend, andere aanwezigen vertelden over de pijn en schade van zwijgen en ontkenning. (bijlage 1)

Na heropening van de klachtencommissie voor seksueel misbruik zijn er 150 nieuwe meldingen binnengekomen. 

Er zijn nog steeds veel verborgen slachtoffers. Dat blijkt uit dadergeschiedenissen, uit de cijfers van onderzoek en klachtencommissie. En uit het zwijgen bij kerkelijk gezag en omstanders in de parochies. Er is openheid beloofd bij de aankondiging van de sluiting van de klachtencommissie, maar er is geen openheid gegeven, integendeel, getuigen werd opnieuw het zwijgen opgelegd. (Bijlage 2)

Ontkenning leidt tot onbegrepen lichamelijke en psychische klachten en kostbare, niet passende hulpverlening. 

Externe experts zijn onmisbaar. Herstelbemiddeling blijkt de beste resultaten te geven.

 Zonder klachtencommissie als stok achter de deur blijkt herstelbemiddeling echter niet geaccepteerd te worden.

Congregaties verzaken in preventie wanneer het gaat om leden die hier, en in andere landen, nog steeds volop in de gelegenheid zijn zich aan kinderen te vergrijpen.

Als sluiting van de klachtencommissie onvermijdelijk is, doen wij een beroep op de volksvertegenwoordigers om zonder vrijblijvendheid beleid te ondersteunen dat aansluit bij internationale ontwikkelingen voor herstelrecht, passende zorg, ondersteuning van selfmanagement en lotgenotenwerk. 

Tevens willen wij u verzoekende de sterke lobby van de kerk te weerstaan en toch nogmaals bij de kerk aan te dringen op het openhouden van de klachtencommissie.

Als dat niet mogelijk is dan vragen wij u erop toe te zien dat slachtoffers niet opnieuw afhankelijk gemaakt worden van de kerk. Dat betekent dat de keuze voor bemiddelaars aan de slachtoffers wordt gelaten, dat zij voor bemiddeling kunnen kiezen voor best practices op dit gebied waarmee ervaring is opgedaan, en dat het onafhankelijk meldpunt hierbij toezichthouder wordt.

Daarnaast willen wij u verzoeken erop toe te zien dat bij de slotactie gesprekken worden aangeboden door een onafhankelijke partij die gekwalificeerd is voor dit soort moeilijke gesprekken, en dat voor gedane schade niet per standaardbrief excuus wordt geboden.(Bijlage 3)


Namens het Vrouwen Platform Kerkelijk Kindermisbruik,

Maud Kips

Annemie Knibbe


Meldpunt misbruik katholieke kerk gaat dicht

30-4-2015

Het Meldpunt Seksueel Misbruik in de Rooms-Katholieke Kerk gaat 1 mei dicht. Slachtoffers kunnen er dan niet meer terecht om nieuwe meldingen van misbruik te doen.


Een deel van de Tweede Kamer wilde dat het meldpunt langer open zou blijven, maar volgens minister Van der Steur wordt het tijd om er een punt achter te zetten. "Er werken daar mensen die niet veel meer te doen hebben."



Het meldpunt zal volgens Van der Steur nog zeker een jaar blijven bestaan om bestaande meldingen af te handelen, maar geen nieuwe meldingen meer noteren. Daarna zal het helemaal verdwijnen. 



Slachtoffers die alsnog melding willen doen, kunnen bijvoorbeeld terecht bij slachtoffergroepen. De minister zei dat ook zij moeten kunnen rekenen op hulp en erkenning en in sommige gevallen op een schadevergoeding. 



Het Meldpunt Seksueel Misbruik bestaat sinds 2011. Sindsdien zijn er ruim 3.500 meldingen binnengekomen, met name over misbruik in de jaren vijftig en zestig. Ongeveer de helft is omgezet in een klacht. Er is bijna 18 miljoen euro aan schadevergoedingen uitbetaald. 



De commissie-Deetman, die het seksueel misbruik in de katholieke kerk onderzocht, constateerde destijds dat er in totaal tussen de 10.000 en 20.000 misbruikslachtoffers zijn. 



Het was eerst de bedoeling dat het meldpunt op 1 juli 2014 zou sluiten. Het Vrouwenplatform Kerkelijk Kindermisbruik vocht die datum aan. De rechter bepaalde in kort geding dat het tot 1 mei 2015 open moest blijven. 



Bron: NOS

Book offers insight into canon law's role in sexual abuse crisis

POTIPHAR'S WIFE: THE VATICAN'S SECRET AND CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE
By Kieran Tapsell
Published by ATF Press, $40
 |  
The legal system of the Roman Catholic church is probably the longest-running in history. Canon law, the commonly used name for this system, has been accorded near magical status by some of its practitioners, who are firmly convinced it has an answer to every problem facing the institutional church.
The true believers have claimed that the clergy sex abuse debacle could have been avoided had the church only used its own canonical system. Foremost among them has been Cardinal Raymond Burke, formerly head of the Apostolic Signatura, the church's highest court. In 2012, he addressed a canon law convention in Kenya and said that the church has a "carefully articulated process by which to investigate accusations of sex abuse," and that the ongoing problem of clergy sex abuse was because the discipline of canon law was not followed.
Burke's assertion and those of others making similar claims are far removed from the reality of canon law's role in the church's abysmal failure to deal with the epidemic of sexual misbehavior.
On the other side of the reality divide, bishops who actually tried to deal with priest-perpetrators according to the church's rules found themselves more times than not stymied and stonewalled by a confusing and contradictory array of canonical regulations.
I have been a canonist long enough to know that canon law never had a chance. My belief is based on the fact that canon law is a legal system in service to a monarchy. By its very nature, the primary goal is to protect the monarchs. There is no separation of powers in the Catholic church, hence no checks and balances.
It doesn't take a seer with a crystal ball to know what happens in a society when there are no restraints on the sources of power. The short history of the contemporary chapter of the church's problem with destructive sexual behavior has proven beyond a doubt that the institution's main concern is the protection of the hierarchy and not the victims.
Kieran Tapsell is an attorney from Sydney. Two years ago, when the Australian Royal Commission Into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, which is investigating institutions such as schools, churches, sports clubs and government organizations, was getting into full swing, Tapsell contacted me for help with a submission for the commission. We exchanged several emails and I sent him a number of documents, all related to canon law and sexual abuse. His submission grew into a book, Potiphar's Wife: The Vatican's Secret and Child Sexual Abuse.
The title comes from the biblical story of Joseph, who was sold as a slave to Potiphar, who worked for the Pharoah. Potiphar's wife tried to seduce the young man, and when he refused, she accused him of rape. Joseph ended up in prison.
In 2002, Cardinal Miguel Obando y Bravo of Nicaragua likened the victims of clergy sex abuse to Potiphar's wife: "The reasons that drove Potiphar's wife to lie are pleasure, spite and unrequited love. I don't want to deny the drama of the authentic victims of sexual abuse ... but one can't hide the fact that in some cases we are dealing with presumed victims who want to gain large payoffs on the basis of calumnious accusations. ... The church in the U.S. is living through a heroic moment, of bloodless martyrdom, of persecution."
Of the many spiteful statements made by various and sundry hierarchs, this is surely one of the more ignorant and harmful.
Potiphar's Wife significantly enhanced my own understanding of the complex and often arcane role played by canon law in the abuse crisis. It clearly demonstrates that the church's legal system has not only been a hindrance to justice for the victims, but an enabler to the perpetrators.
Through my correspondence with Tapsell, I learned that he is a scholar with an extraordinary grasp of canon law, its spirit, sources and labyrinthine mechanisms. He has written the most comprehensive, insightful and accurate exposition of the canonical landscape yet to be produced. He takes a careful look at all of the relevant areas of canon law and comes up with a thorough description of some of the key points of contention, including:
  • The nature and extent of the obligation to maintain secrecy;
  • The origin and effect of the two versions of the Vatican decree on procedures, Crimen sollicitationis;
  • The question of reporting cases of sexual abuse to civil law enforcement;
  • The canonical barriers the bishops faced when trying to effectively move against priests who violate minors.
I found Tapsell's work enlightening on a number of key points, including his effective argument thatCrimen sollicitationis died a natural death with the promulgation of the new Code of Canon Law in 1983.
One common defense of the hierarchy is that very few bishops received copies of either edition ofCrimen sollicitationis, and that consequently it was largely irrelevant and unused. I have reviewed several thousand files of accused clerics over the past 27 years, cases from throughout the United States, Canada, Ireland, Great Britain, Italy, Mexico and Colombia. I have found a number of documents that were clearly part of the penal process mandated by Crimen sollicitationis. It would be close to impossible to determine how often this procedure was used, in all or in part, but it has been used.
Tapsell also demonstrates quite credibly that the American, Irish, Australian and British bishops' conferences tried without success to convince Vatican authorities to enact some crucial changes in canon law that would remove the hobbles and allow them to take effective action.
These attempts were made during the papacy of John Paul II and all were rebuffed. The refusals were based on John Paul's obsession with protecting priests and their rights, grounded in his highly mystical opinion of the nature of the priesthood.
The author and his publisher both told me that there had been a number of criticisms of the book by canon lawyers in Australia. I have searched high and low and found nothing in writing.
A positive review from a moral theology professor at The Catholic University of America was pulled from the Internet because, its author explained to Tapsell, he had received emails from canonists criticizing it.
Yet in the months the book has been out, there have been no critical rebuttals from canonists nor has anyone agreed to engage the author in debate. Once exception is Fr. Ian Waters, a canonist from the Melbourne archdiocese, speaking in his private capacity in Melbourne in October. (A copy of Waters' speech and Tapsell's responses can be found here.)
Potiphar's Wife is not a dry, academic treatise but a highly readable and engaging account of one of the most important and relevant aspects of the clergy abuse debacle. The author goes through the bewildering canonical swamp and brings his conclusions to life with real examples. This is not only a commentary on canon law, but an invaluable historical source. His description of the church's response through history is comprehensive, including all the major events and ecclesiastical pronouncements.
Potiphar's Wife is at times shocking and infuriating, but it is an essential contribution to understanding the byzantine and all too often contradictory response of the Catholic hierarchy and the Vatican to the most destructive force the church has seen since the Middle Ages.

[Dominican Fr. Thomas P. Doyle is a canon lawyer and longtime advocate for victims abused by Catholic clerics. He is also co-author of the 2006 book Sex, Priests and Secret Codes: The Catholic Church's 2,000-Year Paper Trail of Sexual Abuse.]

Belgian bishop: Ruling against archbishop could spur claims for damages



National Catholic Reporter
National Catholic Reporter  

OXFORD, ENGLAND

  |

 

A Belgian bishop said the president of the bishops' conference urged Catholics to respect a court judgment against him for failing to act on allegations of abuse.
However, Auxiliary Bishop Jean Kockerols of Mechelen-Brussels also said the ruling provoked concern that it could spur more claims for damages, and he said it would take a while for the church to regain credibility.
"Our church set up a special commission to investigate such cases, which will soon complete its work," Kockerols told Catholic News Service, adding that he believed the Belgian church's procedures for combating abuse were now robust.
"After the damage we've suffered from these cases, it'll take us 10-20 years to regain our credibility as a church. What's important in the meantime is that we're not intimidated into silence. When you're walking a tightrope, your best chance of finding a balance is to keep moving forward," he said.
bron
The Appeal Court in Liege ruled against Archbishop Andre Leonard of Mechelen-Brussels, conference president, in a case dating to when he was bishop of Namur, 1991-2010. The court said the archbishop was guilty of misconduct and ordered him to pay $11,000 to a former Catholic seminarian, Joel Devillet, who was sexually abused as a choirboy in Aubange by a Catholic abbot, Fr. Gilbert Hubermont.
Devillet, now 42, took his case to the Appeal Court after a previous damages claim against the archbishop was rejected by a Namur court in 2013.
Belgium's Catholic church has been dogged by abuse allegations since 2010, alongside parallel claims against the clergy in other European countries. In a 2010 pastoral letter, the bishops' conference asked forgiveness from victims, after Bishop Roger Vangheluwe of Bruges resigned following an admission he had molested his nephew.
Meanwhile, Philippe Malherbe, lawyer for Archbishop Leonard, said Monday he believed the case against his client was "juridically fragile," adding that an appeal was being considered.
On May 6, Leonard turns 75 and, under canon law, must offer his resignation to Pope Francis.



woensdag, april 29, 2015

Crime passionel UN aid worker ? ¨Sexual Abuse on Children by International Armed Forces ¨

¨Ik ben niet op deze wereld gekomen om onzichtbaar te zijn 
Ik ben niet geboren om ontkend te worden
 Ik heb het leven niet gekregen om van een ander te zijn
 Ik ben van mijzelf 
Ik heb een stem en die zal ik gebruiken.¨

uit:  Vrijheid geef je door  5 mei lezing  voormalige speciale VNgezant grote meren gebied 

29 - 4 2015
The Guardian 

A senior United Nations aid worker has been suspended for disclosing to prosecutors an internal report on the sexual abuse of children by French peacekeeping troops in the Central African Republic.
Sources close to the case said Anders Kompass passed the document to the French authorities because of the UN’s failure to take action to stop the abuse. The report documented the sexual exploitation of children as young as nine by French troops stationed in the country as part of international peacekeeping efforts.
Kompass, who is based in Geneva, was suspended from his post as director of field operations last week and accused of leaking a confidential UN report and breaching protocols. He is under investigation by the UN office for internal oversight service (OIOS) amid warnings from a senior official that access to his case must be “severely restricted”. He faces dismissal.
The treatment of the aid worker, who has been involved in humanitarian work for more than 30 years, has taken place with the knowledge of senior UN officials, including Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, the high commissioner for human rights, and Susana Malcorra, chef de cabinet in the UN, according to documents relating to the case.






The abuses took place in 2014 when the UN mission in the country, Minusca, was in the process of being set up.
The Guardian has been passed the internal report on the sexual exploitation by Paula Donovan, of the advocacy group Aids Free World, who is demanding an independent commission inquiry into the UN’s handling of sexual abuse by peacekeepers.
It was commissioned by the UN office of the high commissioner for human rights after reports on the ground that children, who are among the tens of thousands displaced by the fighting, were being sexually abused.
Entitled Sexual Abuse on Children by International Armed Forces and stamped “confidential” on every page, the report details the rape and sodomy of starving and homeless young boys by French peacekeeping troops who were supposed to be protecting them at a centre for internally displaced people in Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic.
Donovan, the co-director of Aids Free World. said: “The regular sex abuse by peacekeeping personnel uncovered here and the United Nations’ appalling disregard for victims are stomach-turning, but the awful truth is that this isn’t uncommon. The UN’s instinctive response to sexual violence in its ranks – ignore, deny, cover up, dissemble – must be subjected to a truly independent commission of inquiry with total access, top to bottom, and full subpoena power.”
The UN has faced several scandals in the past relating to its failure to act over paedophile rings operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kosovo and Bosnia. It has also faced allegations of sexual misconduct by its troops in Haiti, Burundi and Liberia.
The treatment of Kompass, a Swedish national, threatens to spark a major diplomatic row.
This month, the Swedish ambassador to the United Nations warned senior UN officials “it would not be a good thing if the high commissioner for human rights forced” Kompass to resign. The ambassador threatened to go public if that happened and to engage in a potentially ugly and harmful debate.

The abuses detailed in the internal report took place before and after Minusca was set up last year. Interviews with the abused children were carried out between May and June last year by a member of staff from the office for the high commissioner of human rights and a Unicef specialist. The children identified represent just a snapshot of the numbers potentially being abused.







The boys, some of whom were orphans, disclosed sexual exploitation, including rape and sodomy, between December 2013 and June 2014 by French troops at a centre for internally displaced people at M’Poko airport in the capital Bangui.

The children described how they were sexually exploited in return for food and money. One 11-year-old boy said he was abused when he went out looking for food. A nine-year-old described being sexually abused with his friend by two French soldiers at the IDP camp when they went to a checkpoint to look for something to eat.
The child described how the soldiers forced him and his friend to carry out a sex act. The report describes how distressed the child was when disclosing the abuse and how he fled the camp in terror after the assault. Some of the children were able to give good descriptions of the soldiers involved.
In summer 2014, the report was passed to officials within the office for the high commission of human rights in Geneva. When nothing happened, Kompass sent the report to the French authorities and they visited Bangui and began an investigation.
It is understood a more senior official was made aware of Kompass’s actions and raised no objections. But last month Kompass was called in and accused of breaching UN protocols by leaking details of a confidential report, according to sources.
Kompass’s emails have been seized as part of the investigation into the alleged leak. One senior UN official has said of Kompass that “it was his duty to know and comply” with UN protocols on confidential documents.
Bea Edwards, of the Government Accountability Project, an international charity that supports whistleblowers, condemned the UN for its witch-hunt against a whistleblower who had acted to stop the abuse of children.
“We have represented many whistleblowers in the UN system over the years and in general the more serious the disclosure they make the more ferocious the retaliation,” said Edwards. ”Despite the official rhetoric, there is very little commitment at the top of the organisation to protect whistleblowers and a strong tendency to politicise every issue no matter how urgent.”
UN sources confirmed an investigation by the French was ongoing – in cooperation with the UN – into allegations of a very serious nature against peacekeepers in the Central African Republic.
On Wednesday a spokesman for the French justice ministry told Reuters: “A preliminary investigation has been opened by the Paris prosecutor since July 31, 2014. The investigation is ongoing,” he said, declining to give further details.
A spokesman for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights confirmed an investigation was under way into the leaking of confidential information by a staff member.


The Guardian 
Tuesday 24 March 2015 

Sex abuse poses 'significant risk' to UN peacekeeping, says leaked report

Internal UN research talks of a culture of impunity and underreporting on sexual abuse cases in peacekeeping missions

The United Nations has been accused of ignoring an internal report that describes sexual exploitation and abuse as “the most significant risk” to peacekeeping missions across the globe.
The leaked internal document examines UN peacekeeping missions in Congo, Haiti, Liberia and South Sudan, where 85% of all sexual abuse cases against peacekeepers come from. Of the allegations made in these countries in 2012, 18 (30%) involved minors.
The actual number of incidents could be far higher, says the document, referring to significant under-reporting and poor record-keeping, which means that “the UN does not know how serious the problem of SEA [sexual exploitation and abuse] is”. The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, in his annual report told members that the number of sexual abuse cases against UN peacekeepers was, at 51 in 2014, the lowest since measures for protection from sexual exploitation and abuse were put in place.



The report describes a culture of “impunity” when dealing with sexual cases among UN peacekeepers. “UN personnel in all the missions we visited could point to numerous suspected or quite visible cases of SEA that are not being counted or investigated,” the researchers said. These findings appear to contradict the secretary general’s assurance to member states that the UN had a zero-tolerance policy “towards all forms of sexual exploitation and abuse”.

The report was commissioned by the secretary general to monitor abuse in peacekeeping missions. It is an internal document, circulated within the UN, which was leaked to AIDS-Free World, an NGO advocating an urgent response to HIV and Aids.UN peacekeeping missions have been dogged by allegations of sexual abuse in the past. In 2006, peacekeepers in Liberia and Haiti were accused of forcing girls to perform sexual favours in return for food. Two years later, researchers from Save the Children found UN peacekeepers in Ivory Coast, southern Sudan and Haiti had raped children as young as 13. 
A UN official told the Guardian: “The report of the team of experts is an internal document that, from the team’s inception, was never intended for public release. As the secretary general has repeated, ‘a single substantiated case of sexual exploitation or sexual abuse involving United Nations personnel is one case too many’.”
In response, Dr Rosa Freedman, senior lecturer at the University of Birmingham School of Law, accuses the UN of ignoring the report.
“It seems that they’ve been looking to put this report in a drawer and cover up what the experts said,” she says. “On the issue of sexual abuse and exploitation, there are clear contradictions between what the experts set out in their research and what Ban Ki-moon would like to present as factual in his annual report to members.”
Paula Donovan, co-director at AIDS-Free World, says that both the findings of the report and UN’s reaction to it are “horrible” for the organisation.
“Many people don’t know a lot about the UN, and their first introduction to it is through peacekeepers and UN staff. So when these people commit these crimes, they are exploiting vulnerable people and doing great harm to the UN,” she says.




Mary Creagh, the shadow secretary for international development, called on the UN to be transparent with the experts findings in order to maintain public confidence.
“Sexual exploitation and abuse by UN peacekeepers is completely unacceptable. The UN has worked hard over many years to tackle sexual exploitation in its peacekeeping missions but it is vital that the work of the independent experts who assess progress is published so public confidence is maintained,” she says.

“It is only when the full extent of exploitation and abuse is known that survivors can be supported and get the justice they deserve.”
The Labour MP’s views were echoed by Anwarul Chowdhury, former Bangladesh ambassador to the UN and former UN under-secretary general.
“When the UN flag goes to a country mandated by the security council it defends the role and objectives of the UN charter: to keep peace, improve human rights and support economic and democratic development,” he says. “Peacekeepers are the protectors of the people in the countries they serve. But if the protectors become predators, that ruins the good name of the UN.”
A UN official denied the report had been covered up and insisted that the organisation “remains committed to the implementation of the secretary-general’s zero-tolerance policy towards all forms of sexual exploitation and abuse by UN and related personnel. The secretary-general reports on this issue annually and he chaired a meeting of several heads of departments, agencies, funds and programmes in January 2015 and many of the recommendations and proposals are included in his 2015 report.”





The official added: “Dedicated conduct and discipline personnel deployed in field missions continue to support each field mission with the implementation of the United Nations three-pronged strategy to address sexual exploitation and abuse through prevention, enforcement and remedial actions. Details on concrete activities concerning each aspect of the strategy, including field missions’ specific examples, can be found in the latest report of the secretary-general on special measures for the protection from sexual exploitation and sexual abuse, as well as in each of the preceding reports issued since 2005.”
 This article was corrected on 25 March 2015 because the 51 total allegations mentioned in the Secretary General’s annual report were made in 2014, not 2013 as was originally stated.