NEW YORK
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Friday that he would repatriate UN peacekeepers found to have committed sexual abuse.
Ban added that commanders of such peacekeepers, who failed to take action against them, would also be repatriated.
"Sexual exploitation and abuse by a small minority of United Nations personnel continue to shame our organization. Such abuse scars the lives of men, women and children,” he said in a report dated Sept. 2 but made public Friday.
"It is one of my greatest disappointments. I will continue to do everything within my authority to stamp out this scourge," he said.
The UN has been under international scrutiny over its handling of claims of child sexual abuse by its personnel stationed in world's conflict zones as part of international peacekeeping efforts.
In August, London-based Amnesty International published a report that claimed UN peacekeepers serving with the UN mission in Central African Republic raped a 12-year-old girl and fatally shot a father and his son while shooting indiscriminately in the streets of capital Bangui after armed clashes.
The allegations prompted the UN chief to sack the head of the mission, Babacar Gaye.
"I have clearly communicated my intent to impose strong sanctions against those who commit acts of misconduct and those who fail to take action against them, including mission leadership and command authorities," he said.
He said that he had strengthened administrative sanctions against these personnel, including placing them on administrative leave without pay and suspending payments where there were credible allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse implicating individual contingents or police personnel.
"I will repatriate contingents where there is a demonstrated pattern of abuse or non-response to allegations of misconduct and, as previously reported, consider terminating the deployment of uniformed personnel where there is a documented pattern of non-compliance with United Nations standards of conduct," he added.
