GPPi publishes commentary on allegations against the UN peacekeepers
With the United Nations peacekeeping troops facing charges of corruption and negligence, urgent action is needed to prevent the entire organization and its peacekeeping enterprise from losing credibility, writes GPPi Director Thorsten Benner in an opinion piece for Deutsche Welle Online, published 18 October 2013. Benner argues that both the UN bureaucracy and member states, particularly the influential and wealthy members of the UN Security Council, ought to adopt measures preventing further institutional damage.
On 9 October 2013, a Boston-based advocacy group filed suit against the UN, claiming that the organization’s peacekeepers were responsible for a cholera outbreak in Haiti that has claimed more than 9,000 lives over the last three years. The same day, the UK branch of Transparency International published a report charging the UN with rampant corruption in its peacekeeping operations. Taken individually, these allegations already challenge the so-called blue helmets, a combined peacekeeping force of 120,000 soldiers, police and civilians, deployed in 16 stabilizing missions. Taken together, the charges seriously compromise the entire organization’s standing if left unanswered.
As Benner argues, the spirit of the UN’s response also matters. Simply invoking its immunity from legal charges based on a 1946 convention will only aggravate the stakeholders affected by the cholera outbreak. An apology from Ban Ki-Moon, secretary-general of the UN, could initiate a process of conciliation and send the right signal to the victims. However, a moral double standard on the side of the member states is blocking the UN administration from taking action: Demanding urgent action against cholera in a resolution, the members of the Security Council have done little to fund a 10-year initiative by Ban to combat the disease in Haiti.
Regarding Transparency International’s allegations, the report should be welcomed as an opportunity for improvement, Benner suggests. While misconduct can be expected when a highly diverse mission of peacekeepers is sent into a complex setting, the report and attention serve as a chance for the blue helmets to introduce much needed protection of whistleblowers, criminal accountability, preventive measures and organizational transparency.
The UN must move vigorously and swiftly, Thorsten Benner concludes, lest “the credibility of the entire organization is at risk.”