By arthur Weinreb
Friday, February 25, 2005
Recently the Times of London did an article on the sex-for-food scandal involving UN staff and peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In what the newspaper referred to as "the United Nation’s abu Ghraib", the Times reported about acts of rape committed by UN personnel on women and children in the african country, and the fact that some of those acts against women and children were filmed. Tapes of those crimes are now being sold around the Congo.
The Times report said that investigations have revealed 150 allegations of sexual misconduct by UN employees and peacekeepers. Some of the acts include paying for sex with food such as jars of mayonnaise and jam.
These acts bear no resemblance to what happened at abu Ghraib as far as the mainstream media is concerned. Unlike the Iraqi prison, the "perps" are UN personnel and not the american military so the mainstream media simply looks the other way. The fact that the victims are "just africans" may also be part of the reason that the media justifies ignoring it.
Buried in the middle of the Times’ article is the fact that "at least two UN officials--a Ukrainian and a Canadian--had to leave the country after getting local women pregnant.
Even the fact that a Canadian was involved still leaves the Canadian mainstream media with absolutely no interest in the United Nations’ involvement in serious crimes. Who is this Canadian? What was the age of the woman (or girl) that he impregnated? Was the sexual act consensual, rape or prostitution and if the latter, what was used to pay for sex?
The mainstream media loves to follow the Canadian political line that the United Nations can do no wrong, whether it’s sex-for-food or oil-for-food. The institution that sets Canada’s foreign policy, unlike the government that implements it, seems to be beyond criticism. The rape of african children and women remain unimportant, even when there are allegations that a Canadian was involved.
Speaking about the United Nations’ zero tolerance policy concerning the sexual misconduct of UN personnel, Prince Zeid Raad al Hussein of Jordan, a special advisor to Kofi annan, was quoted as saying, "The situation appears to be one of ‘zero-compliance with zero-tolerance’ throughout the mission.
as far as the Canadian mainstream media is concerned, al Hussein can also add zero interest.