PEACEKEEPERS ACCUSED OF CHILD SEX ABUSE

Allegations of abuse of locals by UN peacekeepers have again surfaced:

Children have been subjected to rape and prostitution by United Nations peacekeepers in Haiti and Liberia, a BBC investigation has found.

Girls have told of regular encounters with soldiers where sex is demanded in return for food or money.

The assistant secretary-general for peacekeeping operations acknowledges that sexual abuse is widespread.

"We've had a problem probably since the inception of peacekeeping - problems of this kind of exploitation of vulnerable populations," Jane Holl Lute told the BBC.

"My operating presumption is that this is either a problem or a potential problem in every single one of our missions."

Unfortunately, offenders probably needn't worry:

Under UN regulations, military personnel cannot be prosecuted in the country where they are serving, and it is up to the courts in their home countries to prosecute crimes committed.

The UN said it had firm knowledge of only two concrete examples of sex offenders being sent to jail, although it believed there could be others it did not know about.

The international community would be screaming for blood if US forces were involved.