We know the UN is an ineffective body, a concept whose time has not arrived. But a number of revelations, which reveal the corruption that has seeped into its ranks, have tarnished whatever reputation it had. Let us look at some facts. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, Pakistani soldiers under the UN flag have been accused of re-arming rebels the next day for monetary gains after they were de-armed. They are in cahoots with Indian traders and Congolese army officers and enriching themselves through a gold smuggling racket. Top UN officials are of the fact but are keeping mum only because they do not want to embarrass Pakistan- the biggest provider of troops for peace keeping missions. Meanwhile, another investigation is under way into the alleged torture and killings of Ituri fighters by a number of Bangladeshi UN soldiers. In 2005, an internal inquiry found that peacekeepers in eastern Congo had sexually abused girls as young as 13. In 2004, Ruud Lubbers resigned as head of the UN High Commission for Refugees following allegations of sexual harassment. Lubbers, 65, a former Dutch prime minister, escaped censure because Kofi Annan brushed the matter under the carpet. The former head of the UN oil-for-food programme for Iraq, Benon Sevan, has been charged with bribery and conspiracy to commit fraud by the US. Mr. Sevan allegedly accepted $160,000 (£81,500) from Baghdad to illegally influence the $64bn programme. The 69-year-old Cypriot is charged along with another man, Ephraim Nadler, a brother-in-law of former UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, who has been accused of channeling kickbacks between the Iraqi government and Mr. Sevan. This week, meanwhile, saw the start of the fraud trial in New York of Sanjaya Bahel, a native of India who stands accused of taking serial bribes from a Florida businessman while he was head of the UN’s Commodity Procurement Section from 1999 to 2003. The United Nations is an idealistic creation, necessitated after the horrors of the Second World War. Asking for perfection from it would be utopian. But at least one can expect UN’s watch dog, Office of Internal Oversight Services, to bark and bite more.
Apr
23
