The UN Security Council on Friday adopted a resolution that calls for the repatriation of entire peacekeeping units whose soldiers face allegations of sexual abuse while serving under the UN flag. It was the first time that the council has approved measures to address the rise in troubling allegations of sexual abuse by peacekeepers deployed worldwide to protect civilians in conflict. The US-drafted resolution was adopted by a vote of 14 in favour, with Egypt abstaining.
The resolution, which has been under intense negotiation for a week, endorses a new UN policy of sending entire peacekeeping units back home if their soldiers face repeated allegations of sex abuse. The measure allows UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to bar a country from peacekeeping if it fails to take action against soldiers who face credible allegations.
Foreign troops found guilty of sex abuse "do not deserve to serve in UN peacekeeping missions," US Ambassador Samantha Power told the council. "To the victims of sexual exploitation and abuse, we pledge that we will do better," she said. "We will do better to ensure that the blue helmets we send as your protectors do not become perpetrators."
Egypt, along with Russia and Senegal, had argued that the new policy amounts to collective punishment and that attention should focus on prosecuting individual perpetrators of sex crimes. Minutes before the adoption, Egypt presented an amendment that would have added criteria for deciding on a repatriation, a move Power said would have "undermined the purpose of the resolution."
That amendment was backed by Angola, Russia, China, Egypt, Venezuela but it fell short of the nine votes needed for approval in the 15-member council. Egyptian Ambassador Amr Abdellatif Aboulatta said the resolution will "negatively affect the morale of the troops and demonstrates contempt for the sacrifices of tens of thousands of peacekeeping personnel operating under extremely difficult conditions."
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