Eac>and often is mentioned how they do nothing about the UN Eac>Peacekeeping forces who are having sex with little 12 and Eac>13 year old girls in exchange for pieces of food (not even money...). I think you mean Gu>allegations have recently surfaced that troops sent to police Gu>Liberia were regularly having sex with girls aged as young as 12, Gu>sometimes in the mission's administrative buildings. Gu>In the DRC, peacekeepers were said to have offered abandoned orphans Gu>small gifts - as little as two eggs from their rations, says the report Gu> - for sexual encounters. "alleged", "said" Eac>I'm sure that UN Peacekeepers are Eac> also running around in Speedos and shooting anything that moves. after all, they're worse than us... EY> Eric: Yeah I wonder what happened to that scandal. They busted EY> some French troops who were part of the UN contingent, shuffled EY> around some of the officers as though they were pedophile EY> priests, and issued promises of reform. Then it sort of hushed EY> up. Any resolution on that? The UN can't (couldn't as of March 25 2005) discipline such troops. Gu>Yesterday's report, by Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid al-Hussein, was Gu>commissioned to reform the way in which troops behave on UN Gu>missions. It was also aimed at devising a new investigative Gu>framework to detect and deter soldiers exploiting young victims, Gu>who are often impoverished refugees. ... Gu>the report's more radical recommendations are contained in proposals Gu>to over haul the investigation of allegations of rape and abuse. Gu>Courts martial, it says, should be set up within mission areas Gu>for "serious offences" to ensure immediate access to witnesses and evidence. Gu>They would demonstrate that there was "no impunity for acts of sexual Gu>exploitation and abuse by members of military contingents". At present Gu>many of the accused return to their home countries where prosecutions Gu>are rarely pursued. Gu>There have been exceptions. In the DRC, France recently jailed one UN Gu>civilian employee for rape and making pornographic films. South Gu>Africa and Morocco have also taken action against others. http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1445537,00.html -- Judy Evans, Cardiff, UK mailto:judithevans1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html