(Adds comment from U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power, paragraphs
3-5)
By Michelle Nichols and Louis Charbonneau
UNITED NATIONS, March 4 (Reuters) - The United States on
Friday announced it was pushing the U.N. Security Council to
call for repatriation of peacekeepers if there is a pattern of
sexual crimes by troops of a certain nationality or if a country
fails to investigate accusations.
The United Nations reported 99 allegations of sexual
exploitation or sexual abuse against U.N. staff members across
the U.N. system last year, a sharp increase from the 80
allegations in 2014. The majority - 69 in all - involved
personnel in 10 peacekeeping missions.
"The United States has tabled a draft resolution to add the
Security Council's weight to the United Nations response to this
horrific, recurrent problem in peacekeeping missions, including
by supporting the Secretary-General's decision to repatriate
units that demonstrate a pattern" of sexual exploitation and
abuse, U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power said in a statement.
"I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Council
toward swift adoption," she said, adding that "the steps the
United Nations and its member states have so far taken to
address this scourge are demonstrably, and woefully,
inadequate."
Power noted that most of the allegations involved are of the
most serious nature: rape and sex with minors. She said more
than 70 percent of investigations of sex crime allegations are
listed as "pending."
Most recently there have been dozens of abuse accusations
against international troops in Central African Republic (CAR).
The United Nations pledged to crack down on allegations of abuse
to avoid a repeat of past mistakes.
The previous head of the U.N. mission in Central African
Republic, Babacar Gaye, resigned last August and some 800
Congolese peacekeepers were repatriated last month. The U.N.
report released on Friday said there were seven accusations of
sexual abuse against Congolese troops in CAR last year.
The United Nations currently has 106,000 troops and police
serving in 16 peacekeeping missions. The United States pays for
more than 28 percent of the more than $8.2 billion U.N.
peacekeeping budget.
A senior U.S. official said on condition of anonymity that
sexual exploitation and abuse allegations against U.N. troops
"undermine not only peacekeeping missions but really the
credibility of the U.N."
"We're the largest financial contributor to peacekeeping and
have an enormous vested interest in seeing peacekeeping be
effective, being credible and actually doing what it is supposed
to do, which is to protect civilians," the official said.
Diplomats said the United States has asked U.N.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to brief the Security Council on
the issue next week.
(Editing by Andrea Ricci and David Gregorio)