Saturday, December 2, 2006

UNITED NATIONS, (AFP): The United Nations said Thursday it would hold a conference in New York next week on the issue of sexual exploitation by UN peacekeepers following new allegations of such abuses in Liberia and Haiti.

"We take all these cases extremely seriously," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters in response to queries about a BBC probe that found allegations of child prostitution and rape involving the UN peacekeeping missions in Haiti and Liberia.

The spokesman said Monday's conference on eliminating sexual exploitation and abuse by UN and non-governmental organization (NGO) personnel would be attended by UN chief Kofi Annan and his personal adviser on the issue, Jordan's UN Ambassador Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al-Hussein.

Participants will hear from victims, NGO workers and researchers in the field.

Dujarric commented on allegations by a 16-year-old Haitian girl, reported by the BBC, that she was raped by a Brazilian soldier serving in the 9,000-strong UN mission in Haiti known as Minustah.

He said the case, which dates back to 2004, had been fully investigated and noted that the "allegation cannot be sustained based on the evidence obtained."

Minustah, established in 2004 and under Brazilian command, is made up of 7,500 military troops, including more than 1,200 Brazilians, and 2,000 international police.

The BBC also reported that a 15-year-old girl alleged she was attacked by a UN officer on November 15 in Liberia. On that case, Dujarric said the UN mission there (UNMIL) had received no reports from its investigative units of "cases involving minors."

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