Reference https://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2007/03/08/5-bangladeshis-ejected-from-un-mission-over-sex-scam
Five Bangladeshi peacekeepers with the United Nations mission in Liberia were sent back home on March 1 after they were embroiled in a sex scandal. A source confirmed that the process of court-martialling the five—all members of Bangladesh Army—was on.
Ahasan Lenin
bdnews24.com correspondent
Dhaka, March 8 (bdnews24.com)- Five Bangladeshi peacekeepers of the United Nations mission in Liberia were sent back home on March 1 after they were embroiled in a sex scandal.
A source confirmed that the process of court-martialling the five—all members of Bangladesh Army—was on.
The accused are Sepoy Mostafiz, Sepoy Aminul, Sergeant Litu, Warrant Officer Kashem and another army officer. They were working for the UN mission's Sakalpia camp in Liberia.
The source said the five paid for having sex with local women and took pictures of sexual acts. They later went to a local photo studio to print the pictures for $25 (Liberian).
The photo shop later demanded $600 for the prints, prompting the five to get back to the camp without the photos. The shop owner later leaked the incident.
Such scandal by Bangladeshi army personnel working for UN missions is not new. Last year four army members working in Sudan under the UN peacekeeping mission were sent back home on charges of sexual torture.
London newspaper The Telegraph carried a report on January 3 on the basis of spot interview with the 20 minor children in South Sudan who were victims of the incidents in 2005.
A UN spokesman admitted the incident, while the Sudanese government described it as "extremely embarrassing". Thirteen other Bangladeshi peacekeepers were also interrogated.
In the wake of an alarming rise in the incidents of sexual torture and rape in the peacekeeping missions in recent times a new code of conduct was formulated in April last year for the peacekeepers.
Bangladesh has earned international applause for its peacekeeping role in different UN missions.
Bangladesh joined the UN mission in Liberia on September 19, 2003.
Asked to comment on the incident, spokesman for the Army Headquarters Lt Col Anisur Rahman said he was not aware of the matter.
Extract from https://www.thedailystar.net/star-w...exual-abuse-the-hands-un-peacekeepers-1581139
Earlier in 2015, a 29-year-old woman was forced to engage in sexual relations with MINUSCA peacekeepers in exchange for food and money. She said to the human rights organisation: “The conditions of life at the [displacement] camp were precarious. I did not know what to do so I started having sex with the international forces. For this they gave me fish, chicken, jam and bread. Sometimes they give me between 1,000 and 2,000 CFA (approximately $1.60 to $3.30 USD) Before [the conflict], things were not like this…. I had to make decisions because life was so difficult so I chose to enter into these relations for survival.”
Over the past decade, such allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse of civilians by peacekeepers have overshadowed UN operations on missions worldwide. Widespread rape and sex in exchange for money, food or relief goods, including acts of sexual violence against young children, have occurred—with the highest number of allegations in the CAR, Haiti, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and South Sudan, among others. Previous abuse was reported in Cambodia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, East Timor and Liberia, among others, in the 1990s.But as the number and scale of missions grew, so has disturbing allegations against UN peacekeepers in recent years.
Between 2004 and 2016, the UN received almost 2,000 allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation, including 300 involving minors, as was uncovered by an Associated Press investigation, by its peacekeepers from Bangladesh, Brazil, Jordan, Nigeria, Pakistan, Uruguay and Sri Lanka, among others.
Five Bangladeshi peacekeepers with the United Nations mission in Liberia were sent back home on March 1 after they were embroiled in a sex scandal. A source confirmed that the process of court-martialling the five—all members of Bangladesh Army—was on.
Ahasan Lenin
bdnews24.com correspondent
Dhaka, March 8 (bdnews24.com)- Five Bangladeshi peacekeepers of the United Nations mission in Liberia were sent back home on March 1 after they were embroiled in a sex scandal.
A source confirmed that the process of court-martialling the five—all members of Bangladesh Army—was on.
The accused are Sepoy Mostafiz, Sepoy Aminul, Sergeant Litu, Warrant Officer Kashem and another army officer. They were working for the UN mission's Sakalpia camp in Liberia.
The source said the five paid for having sex with local women and took pictures of sexual acts. They later went to a local photo studio to print the pictures for $25 (Liberian).
The photo shop later demanded $600 for the prints, prompting the five to get back to the camp without the photos. The shop owner later leaked the incident.
Such scandal by Bangladeshi army personnel working for UN missions is not new. Last year four army members working in Sudan under the UN peacekeeping mission were sent back home on charges of sexual torture.
London newspaper The Telegraph carried a report on January 3 on the basis of spot interview with the 20 minor children in South Sudan who were victims of the incidents in 2005.
A UN spokesman admitted the incident, while the Sudanese government described it as "extremely embarrassing". Thirteen other Bangladeshi peacekeepers were also interrogated.
In the wake of an alarming rise in the incidents of sexual torture and rape in the peacekeeping missions in recent times a new code of conduct was formulated in April last year for the peacekeepers.
Bangladesh has earned international applause for its peacekeeping role in different UN missions.
Bangladesh joined the UN mission in Liberia on September 19, 2003.
Asked to comment on the incident, spokesman for the Army Headquarters Lt Col Anisur Rahman said he was not aware of the matter.
Extract from https://www.thedailystar.net/star-w...exual-abuse-the-hands-un-peacekeepers-1581139
Earlier in 2015, a 29-year-old woman was forced to engage in sexual relations with MINUSCA peacekeepers in exchange for food and money. She said to the human rights organisation: “The conditions of life at the [displacement] camp were precarious. I did not know what to do so I started having sex with the international forces. For this they gave me fish, chicken, jam and bread. Sometimes they give me between 1,000 and 2,000 CFA (approximately $1.60 to $3.30 USD) Before [the conflict], things were not like this…. I had to make decisions because life was so difficult so I chose to enter into these relations for survival.”
Over the past decade, such allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse of civilians by peacekeepers have overshadowed UN operations on missions worldwide. Widespread rape and sex in exchange for money, food or relief goods, including acts of sexual violence against young children, have occurred—with the highest number of allegations in the CAR, Haiti, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and South Sudan, among others. Previous abuse was reported in Cambodia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, East Timor and Liberia, among others, in the 1990s.But as the number and scale of missions grew, so has disturbing allegations against UN peacekeepers in recent years.
Between 2004 and 2016, the UN received almost 2,000 allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation, including 300 involving minors, as was uncovered by an Associated Press investigation, by its peacekeepers from Bangladesh, Brazil, Jordan, Nigeria, Pakistan, Uruguay and Sri Lanka, among others.
