05/10/2004: "Please let the UN run Iraq! (Part 2)"

According to the BBC, it isn't only American and British troops having a hard time maintaining standards in a foreign country:

The UN Mission to Ethiopia and Eritrea (Unmee) patrols a 1,000km (620 mile) border between the two Horn of Africa countries, which fought a war between 1998 and 2000 that is thought to have killed more than 70,000 people.

Eritrea broadcast a statement on Thursday alleging a string of offences committed by Unmee, including housing criminals, paedophilia, making pornography and even using the national currency as toilet paper.

An Unmee report last June quoted Eritrean women as saying Irish peacekeepers on the mission had used prostitutes as young as 15.

The UN, of course, didn't take accusations this serious lying down:

The UN said it was shocked by the latest accusations.

It said Eritrea was making its mission impossible, detaining local staff and restricting the movement of its vehicles.

"Since its inception, the mission has worked hard to contribute to a lasting solution to the conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia, and we are shocked to learn that we are now part of the problem," Unmee said in a statement.

"We of course acknowledge that we are guests in Eritrea. When a guest is no longer welcome in a house, it is the prerogative of the host to decide what to do next."

Until pictures come out, this will of course be ignored by most of the world's press, no investigation will take place much less trials, and Americans of various persuasions will continue to call for us to turn Iraq over to the UN. Heaven help the Iraqis if the latter succeed.

(Thanks to MCJ and Tim Blair for the link.)

UPDATE: The Eritrean government might be exaggerating or lying for political purposes. I doubt that Amnesty International is, in a report on the trafficking of women on Kosovo released last week:

Since the deployment in July 1999 of an international peacekeeping force (KFOR) and the establishment of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) civilian administration, Kosovo has become a major destination country for women and girls trafficked into forced prostitution. Women are trafficked into Kosovo predominantly from Moldova, Bulgaria and Ukraine, the majority of them via Serbia. At the same time, increasing numbers of local women and girls are being internally trafficked, and trafficked out of Kosovo.

Less than three months after the deployment of international forces and police officers to Kosovo, trafficking had been identified as a problem by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE); and by January 2000, UNMIK's Gender Advisor had acknowledged, but not yet acted on, the problem. Despite subsequent measures taken by UNMIK and others to combat trafficking, by July 2003 there were over 200 bars, restaurants, clubs and cafes in Kosovo where trafficked women were believed to be working in forced prostitution.

Here's one example of what has been uncovered:

Evidence of the involvement of KFOR troops in the trafficking of women in Kosovo has been documented from early 2000. Repeated allegations have been made against members of the Russian KFOR contingent, both as users of trafficked women, and in the trafficking of women�either directly or with the assistance of Serb traffickers. As early as 2000 Russian KFOR troops were allegedly involved in bringing Moldovan and Ukrainian women�allegedly disguised in Russian army uniforms�into the Russian base at Fush� Kosov�/Kosovo Polje. A Hungarian NGO working with trafficked women "reported that Russian KFOR was involved in bringing in women for sex work... They [the trafficked women] believed their clients were KFOR soldiers, NGO staff, OSCE staff and quite a few locals.

The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (hardly a right-wing outfit) has more on UN involvement and complicity in human rights violations here.