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PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHC #5222 2901524
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 171514Z OCT 07
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
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UNCLAS STATE 145222 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL KPKO UN
SUBJECT: UNGA WORKING GROUP ON ASSISTANCE TO VICTIMS OF 
SEXUAL ABUSE 
 
REF: A. USUN 796 (NOTAL) 
 
     ¶B. STATE 126999 (NOTAL) 
     ¶C. USUN 662 (NOTAL) 
 
¶1. (U)  The General Assembly Ad Hoc Working Group on 
Assistance and Support to Victims of Sexual Exploitation and 
Abuse (SEA) (by UN staff or related personnel) will meet 
December 3-7, 2007 to discuss a draft statement of policy and 
draft strategy (A/60/877).  The Chairman of the Working Group 
(WG), Costa Rican Permanent Representative to the UN Jorge 
Urbina, would like to "streamline" discussion in advance of 
the December meeting, in hopes of getting some concrete 
movement forward on this complex and highly-charged issue in 
December.  He has suggested (ref A) that the WG focus on 
providing basic assistance to "complainants" and "victims", 
rather than addressing the range of questions -- legal, 
medical, social, practical -- that can arise from efforts to 
investigate, substantiate and resolve claims of assault, 
paternity and similar issues involving persons in different 
categories (civilian, military, police), possibly residing in 
different countries. 
 
¶2. (U)  USUN should advise other delegations that the U.S. 
views abuse of vulnerable populations and individuals by UN 
staff or related personnel, including peacekeepers, with the 
utmost seriousness.  Nevertheless, the proposed strategy and 
statement of policy present numerous challenges.   We do not 
believe that these complicated questions can be resolved 
between now and December.  These questions include, to name 
just a few, issues of national jurisdiction, legal liability, 
establishing paternity or other claims when accusers and 
accused are in different countries, investigation and chains 
of evidence, substantiating allegations, and protection of 
victims.  We support Ambassador Urbina's recommendation that 
the WG start by seeking agreement on non-contentious issues, 
and build from there. 
 
¶3.  (U)  Overview: 
 
Immediate response:  We recommend that the WG begin by 
approving immediate, basic support to persons (victims or 
complainants) alleging SEA or filing a paternity suit.  This 
assistance could take the form of medical attention, 
including counseling, to meet immediate needs, and should 
include a clear explanation in the local language and in 
writing of resources currently available for further action. 
This should also include contact information to assist the 
complainant or his/her representative in following up with 
the relevant TCC, with regard to the claim.  It should be 
made clear that the UN will not serve as the individual's 
advocate; as noted in paragraph 6 of the draft strategy, the 
UN bears no legal liability for acts of SEA committed by UN 
staff or related personnel. 
 
Funding mechanism:  The WG, by which we mean Member States, 
should be focusing attention on a funding mechanism to 
provide as much support as possible.  The USG believes that 
the final responsibility for providing longer term support to 
victims lies with the perpetrators of the SEA (including 
those fathering children).  It may be very difficult, often 
impossible, to get such redress, but it is inappropriate for 
the UN to bear the costs.  We support a voluntary mechanism, 
or Trust Fund, to which any Member State could contribute. 
To the extent that it is possible to recoup such costs from 
the perpetrators, that should be the goal. 
 
Scope/Applicability:  In our view, the General Assembly does 
not have the authority to mandate adoption of a 
comprehensive, system-wide strategy.  A number of the UN 
agencies proposed for inclusion in such a strategy operate 
independently of the General Assembly, with separate chains 
of command and funding. However, the U.S. has been in the 
forefront of efforts to establish a consistent, system-wide 
code of conduct, and the GA should consider endorsing similar 
efforts to ensure consistency in response to victims and 
complainants of SEA.  The Secretary-General and heads of UN 
agencies and entities meet regularly as the Chief Executive 
Board (CEB); this may be the appropriate forum.  USUN should 
pursue this question in discussions with the UN Secretariat 
and Member States. 
 
Non-financial assistance:  As discussed above, responsibility 
for providing longer term medical, educational, legal and 
other forms of non-cash assistance, lies ultimately with the 
perpetrators.  The USG does not support the transfer of such 
costs to UN peacekeeping operations, as proposed in the draft 
strategy, nor the use of peacekeeping resources to create 
social programs to address the spectrum of sexual violence, 
but it may be possible for the appropriate UN agencies 
already in country to establish working groups to leverage or 
adapt existing programs.  We strongly recommend postponing 
any detailed discussion of this medium- and longer-term 
assistance until after the WG has agreed on immediate 
response and funding. 
 
Paternity:  This is an issue which we firmly believe should 
be deferred for later discussion, given the great variety in 
national procedures and laws, the difficult questions of 
privacy, and the challenges of addressing these issues if the 
alleged father is no longer living in the same country as the 
mother.   It may be easier to establish a policy for certain 
categories of UN or related personnel.  That is, a code of 
conduct and agreement to specific procedures could be made a 
condition of employment for civilian staff or UN implementing 
partners; the same would most likely not apply to troops 
contributed by Member States to peacekeeping operations, who 
are managed under different procedures and agreements.  While 
the question of establishing paternity should be deferred 
until future discussions, the strategy should address 
immediate assistance to be provided to children who may have 
been fathered by UN staff or related personnel. 
 
Investigations:  Similarly, the question of how to handle 
investigations becomes complicated by questions of due 
process for the accused as well as protection for the 
complainant and Member States' own laws and procedures for 
protecting their citizens.  Moreover, discussion of the 
investigative process in the context of the victims' 
assistance strategy risks duplicating and conflicting with 
discussions already underway in the C-34 and the Fifth 
Committee.  The U.S. believes this issue could also derail 
any progress in December on more immediate victims' 
assistance goals, and believes it should not be a topic of 
discussion in the Working Group's deliberations leading up to 
and during the December meeting. 
 
Complaints:  All complainants should be treated with 
courtesy, and the process of filing complaints should be made 
as simple and transparent as possible, including by providing 
information materials in the local language.  As is already 
the policy for complaints against personnel attached to UN 
peacekeeping operations, the UN should publicize its 
procedures.  In the interest of both complainants and 
accused, there should be an established and confidential 
procedure for initiating an investigation or counselling a 
complainant on next steps.  It is critical that immediate 
response to the needs of victims and complainants should be 
given with respect and in a manner that does not further 
injure the party filing the complaint. 
 
¶4. (U) Draft Policy Statement and Strategy:  In the context 
of the above discussion, and the USG's desire to have the 
December meeting of the WG yield positive results, we note 
that the draft policy statement and strategy tend to blur 
"victims" and "complainants."  We agree that it is likely 
that SEA is underreported, and do not believe that the 
clarification of international response to this serious 
problem is (as some Member States have suggested) an open 
invitation to fraudulent complaints.  Nevertheless, the 
distinction is important; not all complaints will be made in 
good faith or be legitimate.   As discussed above, we support 
a consistent system-wide approach to victim assistance, but 
do not believe that this can be done on the GA's authority. 
The U.S. underlines that for any such response to have real 
effect or meaning, Member States must also consider what 
steps they should take with regard to their own nationals. 
Also as discussed, the ultimate responsibility for providing 
assistance and support to victims lies with perpetrators, and 
we oppose transferring the costs to the UN. 
RICE