UN TRIBUNAL CHIEF WARNS STAFF OVER SEXUAL EXPLOITATION

May 20, 2005 (Hirondelle News Agency) -The Registrar of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), Friday gave a stern warning to members of his staff to avoid any form of sexual abuse.

Adama Dieng told hundreds of staff members gathered at the tribunal’s headquarters in Arusha that he would have “zero tolerance” towards any form of sexual abuse.

“I will not tolerate any action or even attempted abuse of your position as a UN staff member taking advantage of the vulnerability (…) or the trust of the nationals among whom we live.”

The warning came in the wake of a article in a Rwandan newspaper which reported that a lady had stormed the ICTR Kigali office seeking payment for sexual favours she had given a UN staff member.

The UN has in the past attracted negative coverage over allegations of sexual abuse by its staff members - some of them very high up the UN ladder - causing UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to issue a circular on the matter.

“Sexual exploitation and sexual abuse constitutes acts of serious misconduct and are therefore grounds for disciplinary measures, including summary dismissal”, says a UN directive.

The financial ease in which UN workers live has led to many of them enjoying flamboyant lifestyles amidst a sea of poverty, thereby attracting commercial sexual workers and poor people - especially women and children - who simply want to make ends meet.

Adama Dieng dropped the bombshell when he warned his staff both in Kigali and Arusha.
“Any intimate relationship between a United Nations employee and a female of the host country population, based on the financial wherewithal of the ICTR employee, could be qualified as sexual exploitation, despite the apparent consent of the female party”.

As if the Kigali sexual saga was not enough, the tribunal’s reputation was also given a jolt this week, when it was alleged at an appeals hearing that some staff members were interfering with witnesses, bribing them to change their testimonies.

The tribunal is conducting investigations into both incidents.

From: http://www.hirondelle.org/arusha.nsf/English?OpenFrameSet