Ensure maximum punishment to errant troops: Ban to India

A day after it came to light that Indian peacekeepers were involved in sexual exploitation and child abuse while posted in Congo...

A day after it came to light that Indian peacekeepers were involved in sexual exploitation and child abuse while posted in Congo, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon asked India to initiate the 8220;maximum degree8221; of punishment permissible under the law against the errant soldiers.

In a strong statement 8212; it is the first of its kind against Indian peacekeepers 8212; the Secretary General said that he is 8220;deeply troubled8221; by the outcome of an investigation by the Office of the Internal Oversight Services OIOS which found 8220;prima facie evidence8221; that Indian blue helmets may have engaged in sexual exploitation and abuse.

As first reported by The Indian Express, the OIOS report was shared with India on Tuesday and indicted several peacekeepers posted in Congo for child abuse and paying minor Congolese girls in North Kivu for sex in 2007 and earlier this year.

Indicating that the Ministry of Defence MoD has taken the charges against Indian troops in the UN probe seriously, Defence Minster A K Antony directed the Army to 8220;promptly8221; investigate the allegations in a time-bound manner.

8220;This has reference to the outcome of a UN probe that has revealed prima facie evidence that a number of Indian peacekeepers, previously assigned to one of the units with the UN Mission in Congo, may have engaged in sexual exploitation and abuse and the subsequent remarks of the Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. I would like that the allegations are promptly and thoroughly investigated in a time-bound manner,8221; Antony said.

Sources confirmed that the OIOS report, sent to the Ministry of External Affairs by the UN on Tuesday, had been shared with the Defence Ministry and contained witness accounts and evidence that Indian peacekeepers indulged in a child prostitution ring near a base camp in Masisi.

What has shocked the military establishment even more is that the incidents 8212; plus the three pervious charges where Indian peacekeepers have been implicated in charges ranging from gold smuggling to illegal assault and detention of locals 8212; have taken place when an Indian officer was commanding the Eastern Division of the UN Mission in Congo.

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The allegations against Indian troops pertain to a period when Major General Bikram Singh was the Eastern Division commander and responsible for the entire region where Indian peacekeepers have been implicating. His tenure ended last month.

While the UN has asked India to ensure 8220;that disciplinary action to the maximum degree permitted by Indian law should be taken as soon as possible against those found to be involved in such misconduct8221;, the Army, in the earlier cases, didn8217;t really crack down.

In the case where three Indian peacekeepers who had been charged with illegally detaining, physically assaulting and sexually propositioning a local Congolese resident last year, the Army recommended only a 8220;censure8221; against its troops. What surprised law experts is that the Army did not even bother to record the statement of the Congolese citizen who had levelled the charges.

The Army blamed the media instead for trying to malign its image in Congo. In a statement issued last month, it said that 8220;periodic reports in sections of media8221; have been motivated by 8220;vested interests8221; of some parties and seek to 8220;undermine professional and ethical behaviour of Indian peacekeepers in Congo8221;.