ANALYSIS/OPINION

The United Nations commits crimes around the world with apparent impunity. Is the U.N. above the law?

In just the past 12 months – and with long historical precedent– the U.N. has abused its position as protector, peacekeeper and humanitarian aid provider, to commit rape and manslaughter, and provide aid to terrorists.

It’s time to hold the U.N. accountable.

Here are the grisly facts:

Rape. Hundreds of women and underage girls have been raped by U.N. soldiers in war-ravaged countries.

Attacked by the very people sent to provide safety and security, the rape survivors are left psychologically damaged, socially stigmatized, and often pregnant, faced with raising the offspring of their tormentors. According to a Washington Post report in February 2016, the U.N.’s latest heinous crime wave took place in the Central African Republic, where the current U.N. mission began in September 2014. Sadly, it’s a story we’ve heard before: similar crimes were reported in earlier U.N. missions, including Kosovo, Haiti, Liberia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and others.

These sexual predators prey on the most vulnerable of the vulnerable people they are charged to protect. The U.N.’s own investigators found that many of the victims of sexual abuse and exploitation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo back in the early 2000s were orphans.

The accused predators – who have come from France as well as from many African countries – seldom face justice or take any kind of responsibility. Sometimes they are sent home to local authorities (who typically do not act). Often the victims don’t know the names of their attackers and can’t press charges.

It’s time to hold the U.N. accountable.

Manslaughter. After years of denial, the U.N. finally admitted responsibility for introducing cholera into Haiti when its troops came to that impoverished nation following a devastating earthquake in 2010. The epidemic they brought cost nearly 10,000 Haitians lives, and created widespread misery. Many of the deaths could have been prevented by known preventive techniques.

The U.N.’s long-overdue acknowledgement of responsibility does not bring justice to its victims. According to Jonathan Katz of The New York Times, the acknowledgement stopped short of saying specifically that the U.N. caused the epidemic. “Nor,” Mr. Katz points out, “does it indicate a change in the organization’s legal position that it is absolutely immune from legal actions (emphasis mine), including a federal lawsuit brought in the United States on behalf of cholera victims seeking billions in damages stemming from the Haiti crisis.”

It’s time to hold the U.N. accountable.

Terrorist support. Wahid Abdullah al-Bursh, an engineer working for the United Nations Development Fund (UNDP), was indicted earlier this month in Israel for abusing his UN position and aiding the terrorist group Hamas. He is reported to have confessed to diverting funds intended for Palestinian civilian reconstruction to Hamas for combat-related projects. He allegedly helped build a naval commando port for Hamas fighters using UNDP resources.

Recruited by Hamas in 2014, Mr. al-Bursh reportedly indicated that he is not the only terrorist operative embedded in aid organizations.

With extraordinary arrogance, characteristic of an institution that believes it is above the law, the United Nations demanded diplomatic immunity for Mr. al-Bursh.

It’s time to hold the U.N. accountable.

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