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United Nations Security Council Resolution 2272 & Secretary-General Report on Special Measures for Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 March 2017

Rembert Boom
Rembert Boom*
Affiliation:
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands
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Extract

More than ever, the United Nations relies on armed peacekeeping to promote peace and security. Currently, more than 120 member states contribute about 100,000 troops and police on a voluntary basis to sixteen peacekeeping operations around the globe. Unfortunately, some troop and police contributing countries continue to fail to hold their nationals accountable, whenever appropriate, for sex crimes committed against the local population.

Type
International Legal Documents
Information
International Legal Materials , Volume 55 , Issue 4 , August 2016 , pp. 756 - 792
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of International Law 2016 

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References

Endnotes

1 Troops and police constitute about 85 percent of peacekeeping personnel. United Nations Peacekeeping Fact Sheet, United Nations, http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/resources/statistics/factsheet.shtml (last visited Aug. 30, 2016).

2 UN Women, Preventing Conflict, Transforming Justice, Securing The Peace: A Global Study on the Implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (2015) [hereinafter Global Study]; Rep. of the Independent High-Level Panel on Peace Operations, transmitted by Identical Letters Dated June 17, 2015, from the Secretary-General addressed to the President of the General Assembly and the President of the Security Council, U.N. Doc. A/70/95–S/2015/446 (June 17, 2015); Marie Deschamps, Hassan B. Jallow & Yasmin Sooka, Taking Action on Sexual Exploitation and Abuse by Peacekeepers: Report of An Independent Review on Sexual Exploitation and Abuse by International Peacekeeping Forces in the Central African Republic 87-88 (Dec. 17, 2015) [hereinafter Independent Review]; U.N. Secretary-General, Special Measures for Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse, U.N. Doc. A/70/729 (Feb. 16, 2016) [hereinafter Special Measures Report 2016].

3 Special Measures Report 2016, supra note 2, at 33-41.

4 Id. at 15.

5 For an informative summary, see Combatting Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, UN Department of Field Support, (March 18, 2016), available at http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/documents/sginitiativessea.pdf.

6 Special Measures Report 2016, supra note 2, at 19, 26.

7 S.C. Res. 2272 (Mar. 11, 2016).

8 U.N. SCOR, 71st Sess., 7643st mtg., U.N. Doc. S/PV.7643 (Mar. 11, 2016). On the competence of the Council in regard of sexual exploitation and abuse by peacekeepers, see The Council Votes on an Amendment to a Resolution on Sexual Abuse by Peacekeepers, Update Website Of The Procedure of the Un Security Council, 4Th Edition (Mar. 20, 2016), http://www.scprocedure.org/ #!chapter-6-section-5/c1fs.

9 Rembert Boom, Impunity of Military Peacekeepers: Will the UN Start Naming and Shaming Troop Contributing Countries?, ASIL Insights (Nov. 24, 2015), https://www.asil.org/insights/volume/19/issue/25/impunity-military-peacekeepers-will-un-start-naming-and-shaming-troop.

10 Independent Review, supra note 2, at 85–88.

11 Int’l Law Comm’n, Statement by Mr. Miguel de Serpa Soares, Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and United Nations Legal Counsel (May 17, 2016).

12 Agreement between the United Nations and the Republic of South Africa Concerning the Status of the United Nations Transition Assistance Group to Namibia (South West Africa), S. Afr.-U.N., Memorandum of Understanding, Mar. 10, 1989, 1526 U.N.T.S. 3.

13 A model agreement prepared for this purpose was never used in practice. Model Agreement Between the United Nations and Member States Contributing Personnel and Equipment to United Nations Peace-keeping Operations, Annex ¶ 25, U.N. Doc. A/46/185 (May 23, 1991).

14 Rep. of Zeid Ra’ad Zeid Al-Hussein, Adviser to the Secretary-General on Sexual Exploitation and Abuse by United Nations Peacekeeping Personnel, A Comprehensive Strategy to Eliminate Future Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in United Nations Peacekeeping Operations, transmitted by Letter dated March 24, 2005, from the Secretary-General to the President of the General Assembly, ¶¶ 67(a) 78, Annex ¶ A.27, U.N. Doc. A/59/710 (Mar. 24, 2005). The obligation was inserted in the Model Troop Contributing MOU—a successor of the aforementioned Model Agreement. See Manual on Policies and Procedures Concerning the Reimbursement and Control of Contingent-Owned Equipment of Troop/Police Contributors Participating in Peacekeeping Missions, (COE Manual), transmitted by Letter dated February 28, 2014, from the Chair of the 2014 Working Group on Contingent-Owned Equipment to the Chair of the Fifth Committee, 192, U.N. Doc. A/C.5/69/18 (Jan. 20, 2015). Completed in 2006, MOUs based on this model have not been published thus far. Host states somehow remain without formal assurances that contributing states will be under the obligation to exercise their exclusive jurisdiction. U.N. Secretary-General, Model Status-of-Forces Agreement for Peace-keeping Operations, Annex ¶ 48, U.N. Doc. A/45/594 (Oct. 9, 1990) is not included in ad hoc status agreements.

15 Rep. of the Group of Legal Experts on Ensuring the Accountability of United Nations Staff and Experts on Mission with Respects to Criminal Acts Committed in Peacekeeping Operations, ¶ 31 n.18, U.N. Doc. A/60/980 (Aug. 16, 2006).

16 Special Measures Report 2016, supra note 2, at 19.

17 Derek W. Bowett, United Nations Forces: A Legal Study 369 (1964).

18 U.N. Secretary-General, Summary Study of the Experience Derived from the Establishment and Operation of the Force, ¶ 136, U.N. Doc. A/3943 (Oct. 9, 1958).

19 Id. ¶ 163. But see Fleck, Dieter, The Legal Status of Personnel Involved in United Nations Peace Operations, 95 Int’l Rev. of the Red Cross 613, 616 (2013), available at https://www.icrc.org/eng/assets/files/review/2013/irrc-891-892-fleck.pdf CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

20 For the suggestion to institute a complementary on-site court martial mechanism, see Rembert Boom, Special Measures for Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in UN Peacekeeping: Can the General Assembly Unite Against Impunity of Military Peacekeepers?, ASIL Insights (Jul. 27, 2016), https://www.asil.org/insights/volume/20/issue/13/special-measures-protection-sexual-exploitation-and-abuse-un. For a recommendation to establish an international tribunal, see Global Study, supra note 2, at 149.

* This text was reproduced and reformatted from the text available at the United Nations website (visited August 1, 2016), http://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=S/RES/2272(2016).

* This text was reproduced and reformatted from the text available at the United Nations website (visited August 1, 2016), http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/70/729.