UN should address MONUC abuses in DRC
US-based Human Rights Watch on May 1 wrote to the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, accusing the United Nations of ignoring serious allegations of illegal arms and gold trafficking by soldiers of MONUC, the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo. Below are extracts.
US-based Human Rights Watch on May 1 wrote to the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, accusing the United Nations of ignoring serious allegations of illegal arms and gold trafficking by soldiers of MONUC, the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo. Below are extracts.
Dear Secretary-General, information received by Human Rights Watch suggests that serious allegations of illegal behaviour by UN peacekeepers in Congo have been ignored, minimised, or shelved, and that there is rarely accountability for the crimes that are acknowledged.
The OIOS (Office of Internal Oversight Services) is responsible for the investigation of offenses by UN peacekeepers. Yet external reviews prepared by outside experts in 2007 indicate that OIOS is unable to effectively carry out investigations or promote accountability.
Pakistani peace-keepers
Human Rights Watch first brought detailed information of gold-smuggling by Pakistani peacekeepers to the attention of UN officials in Ituri, eastern Congo, in December 2005.
This led to the launch of an OIOS investigation. More than a year after the investigation began, the report was still not complete. Only after a May 2007 BBC broadcast said the report was blocked, quoting a UN official as saying there was “a plan to bury (the report),†did OIOS conclude its investigation.
The OIOS report found only that a single Pakistani officer failed to prevent peacekeepers under his authority from providing support and security to persons involved in illegal gold trafficking.
Human Rights Watch was baffled by these findings. According to our research, a ring of Congolese army officers, Kenyan traders, and Pakistani peacekeepers was involved in smuggling millions of dollars of gold from Ituri. The available evidence suggested that the assistance provided by Pakistani peacekeepers went well beyond one individual.
Furthermore, the OIOS report concluded there was no evidence to back up one of the most serious allegations, that Pakistani peacekeepers had provided weapons and ammunition to the Front for National Integration (FNI), an armed group responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Ituri district, whom UN peacekeepers were supposed to be disarming.
It seems that OIOS did have evidence in its possession from at least two different and credible sources relating to these weapons charges. Most of this information was not included in the final report. One source was a Congolese army officer who in a signed statement to OIOS investigators revealed that “arms surrendered by ex-combatants were secretly handed back to them by [named Pakistani officer). “The same witness provided OIOS with significant details about the trade in gold by several Pakistani officers.
Further information came from a UN translator who worked with the Pakistani peacekeepers. In a statement given to OIOS investigators, the translator explained how he was asked in 2005 to interpret a meeting between a Pakistani officer and FNI militia commanders Kung Fu and Dragon.
The statement said during the meeting, the Pakistani officer asked Kung Fu, “What about the weapons I gave you, what about the weapons MONUC gave you?" To which Kung Fu replied that he “had share(d) them out to different (militia) positions.â€
In its final report, OIOS gave less weight to the information provided by the UN translator because he had not personally seen the Pakistani officer giving weapons to the FNI commanders.
The information given by the two witnesses to OIOS was corroborated when on May 25, 2007, Kung Fu and Dragon issued a public statement confirming they received weapons and ammunition from Pakistani peacekeepers in 2005 and traded gold with them. The two commanders repeated their claims again in an interview with the BBC broadcast on April 28.
The UN spokesperson responded that “much of the new information presented by the report is either hearsay or comes from sources, such as the militia leaders, whose integrity and motivation are highly questionable.â€
The Pakistani authorities, meanwhile, continue to claim their soldiers have been completely exonerated. Pakistani military authorities said the allegations were based on “ill founded evidence†and were “unfounded propaganda.†They concluded that their “officers in the chain of command and troops under their command were neither involved in any wrong doing (nor) violated high standard of code of conduct exemplified by Pakistan army.†On the charges of illegal gold trading and arms trading, not one Pakistani peacekeeper has been held to account.
Indian peacekeepers
Human Rights Watch has received information of allegations that some Indian peacekeepers in Congo have engaged in illegal transactions with armed groups in North Kivu, eastern Congo, including the Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda (FDLR), some of whose leaders participated in the Rwandan genocide in 1994.
A preliminary OIOS assessment report from February 2008 lists 44 allegations of misconduct and alleged illegal behaviour by Indian peacekeeping troops in North Kivu from late 2005 to October 2007. The report says it found some evidence on at least 10 of the allegations. The report notes: “Some of the allegations are so serious and the potential consequences of taking no action so grave, that they should not be left unexamined.â€
The allegations include weapons trading with the FDLR, informing armed groups of possible UN military operations, the smuggling of natural resources, including gold and ivory, the unlawful detention of Congolese citizens, and the illicit use of equipment and resources belonging to MONUC.
Despite the report’s recommendations, the OIOS at a senior level decided to pursue only one of the allegations, and reduced a 34-page preliminary investigation report to a four-page memo. The stripped-down memo concludes that there was sufficient evidence only of the purchase of counterfeit gold and the unlawful detention of a local Congolese resident by three Indian peacekeepers. All other allegations were ignored.
When the BBC raised these issues in its April 28 broadcasts, the UN spokesperson responded that OIOS had again looked into the matter and found no cases of arms trafficking and only a handful of cases of misconduct, including that of the three Indian peacekeepers involved in buying gold. The Indian authorities said that the OIOS investigation revealed that “all but one of the allegations were based on hearsay or had no credible evidence.â€
Urgent steps should be taken to review the performance of OIOS and troop contributing countries responsible for disciplining their troops. UN support for prosecutions, such as by court martial by the troop contributing country in the state where the abuse occurred, may provide more effective redress for victims and deterrence of future abuses.
The United Nations should deploy resources at its disposal, and encourage support from member states, to ensure that troop-contributing countries comply with these measures.
Dear Secretary-General, information received by Human Rights Watch suggests that serious allegations of illegal behaviour by UN peacekeepers in Congo have been ignored, minimised, or shelved, and that there is rarely accountability for the crimes that are acknowledged.
The OIOS (Office of Internal Oversight Services) is responsible for the investigation of offenses by UN peacekeepers. Yet external reviews prepared by outside experts in 2007 indicate that OIOS is unable to effectively carry out investigations or promote accountability.
Pakistani peace-keepers
Human Rights Watch first brought detailed information of gold-smuggling by Pakistani peacekeepers to the attention of UN officials in Ituri, eastern Congo, in December 2005.
This led to the launch of an OIOS investigation. More than a year after the investigation began, the report was still not complete. Only after a May 2007 BBC broadcast said the report was blocked, quoting a UN official as saying there was “a plan to bury (the report),†did OIOS conclude its investigation.
The OIOS report found only that a single Pakistani officer failed to prevent peacekeepers under his authority from providing support and security to persons involved in illegal gold trafficking.
Human Rights Watch was baffled by these findings. According to our research, a ring of Congolese army officers, Kenyan traders, and Pakistani peacekeepers was involved in smuggling millions of dollars of gold from Ituri. The available evidence suggested that the assistance provided by Pakistani peacekeepers went well beyond one individual.
Furthermore, the OIOS report concluded there was no evidence to back up one of the most serious allegations, that Pakistani peacekeepers had provided weapons and ammunition to the Front for National Integration (FNI), an armed group responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Ituri district, whom UN peacekeepers were supposed to be disarming.
It seems that OIOS did have evidence in its possession from at least two different and credible sources relating to these weapons charges. Most of this information was not included in the final report. One source was a Congolese army officer who in a signed statement to OIOS investigators revealed that “arms surrendered by ex-combatants were secretly handed back to them by [named Pakistani officer). “The same witness provided OIOS with significant details about the trade in gold by several Pakistani officers.
Further information came from a UN translator who worked with the Pakistani peacekeepers. In a statement given to OIOS investigators, the translator explained how he was asked in 2005 to interpret a meeting between a Pakistani officer and FNI militia commanders Kung Fu and Dragon.
The statement said during the meeting, the Pakistani officer asked Kung Fu, “What about the weapons I gave you, what about the weapons MONUC gave you?" To which Kung Fu replied that he “had share(d) them out to different (militia) positions.â€
In its final report, OIOS gave less weight to the information provided by the UN translator because he had not personally seen the Pakistani officer giving weapons to the FNI commanders.
The information given by the two witnesses to OIOS was corroborated when on May 25, 2007, Kung Fu and Dragon issued a public statement confirming they received weapons and ammunition from Pakistani peacekeepers in 2005 and traded gold with them. The two commanders repeated their claims again in an interview with the BBC broadcast on April 28.
The UN spokesperson responded that “much of the new information presented by the report is either hearsay or comes from sources, such as the militia leaders, whose integrity and motivation are highly questionable.â€
The Pakistani authorities, meanwhile, continue to claim their soldiers have been completely exonerated. Pakistani military authorities said the allegations were based on “ill founded evidence†and were “unfounded propaganda.†They concluded that their “officers in the chain of command and troops under their command were neither involved in any wrong doing (nor) violated high standard of code of conduct exemplified by Pakistan army.†On the charges of illegal gold trading and arms trading, not one Pakistani peacekeeper has been held to account.
Indian peacekeepers
Human Rights Watch has received information of allegations that some Indian peacekeepers in Congo have engaged in illegal transactions with armed groups in North Kivu, eastern Congo, including the Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda (FDLR), some of whose leaders participated in the Rwandan genocide in 1994.
A preliminary OIOS assessment report from February 2008 lists 44 allegations of misconduct and alleged illegal behaviour by Indian peacekeeping troops in North Kivu from late 2005 to October 2007. The report says it found some evidence on at least 10 of the allegations. The report notes: “Some of the allegations are so serious and the potential consequences of taking no action so grave, that they should not be left unexamined.â€
The allegations include weapons trading with the FDLR, informing armed groups of possible UN military operations, the smuggling of natural resources, including gold and ivory, the unlawful detention of Congolese citizens, and the illicit use of equipment and resources belonging to MONUC.
Despite the report’s recommendations, the OIOS at a senior level decided to pursue only one of the allegations, and reduced a 34-page preliminary investigation report to a four-page memo. The stripped-down memo concludes that there was sufficient evidence only of the purchase of counterfeit gold and the unlawful detention of a local Congolese resident by three Indian peacekeepers. All other allegations were ignored.
When the BBC raised these issues in its April 28 broadcasts, the UN spokesperson responded that OIOS had again looked into the matter and found no cases of arms trafficking and only a handful of cases of misconduct, including that of the three Indian peacekeepers involved in buying gold. The Indian authorities said that the OIOS investigation revealed that “all but one of the allegations were based on hearsay or had no credible evidence.â€
Urgent steps should be taken to review the performance of OIOS and troop contributing countries responsible for disciplining their troops. UN support for prosecutions, such as by court martial by the troop contributing country in the state where the abuse occurred, may provide more effective redress for victims and deterrence of future abuses.
The United Nations should deploy resources at its disposal, and encourage support from member states, to ensure that troop-contributing countries comply with these measures.