I do not wish to be misunderstood: if we had done everything we should have d...

I do not wish to be misunderstood: if we had done everything we should have done over the past nine years to ensure the total elimination of this abominable practice by our own peacekeepers, and they still occurred, then we could accept that there was little more we can do. But we, as Member States, have not done everything, and so we cannot make that claim. The United Nations is required to set an example before our publics as an Organization that will without question pay special attention to the most vulnerable and defenceless of protected persons in war, with first a guaranteed protection provided by ourselves, from ourselves, and then from others. What must we therefore do? We must adopt the convention on criminal accountability as soon as possible. We must make the United Nations a co-examiner of the facts, even when the allegations involve United Nations military personnel. We must be more transparent with regard to the severity and nature of the crimes being committed by United Nations peacekeepers. We believe that the OIOS takes too long in establishing the facts, which then must be prepared by the criminal jurisdiction concerned in order for them to become admissible in courts of law. Perhaps, as it was originally suggested, another slim but effective investigative capacity needs to be considered.