Articoli e saggi

Electronic copy available at https://ssrn.com/abstract=3181343
ARTICOLI E SAGGI


THE REPRESSION OF THE CRIMES OF SEXUAL EXPLOITATION AND ABUSE COMMITTED BY PEACEKEEPERS RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
∗
GIUSEPPE NESI SUMMARY 1. Introduction. − 2. United Nations initiatives for the repression of the crime of sexual exploitation and abuse committed by peacekeepers. - 3. Recent proposals from outside the UN system. Secretary-General report of 16 February 2016. – 5. Security Council resolution 2272
(2016). – 6. Secretary-General report of 28 February 2017 and its followup. – 7. Final comments.
1. Issues arising from the repression of the crimes of sexual exploitation and abuse committed by peacekeepers have gained a paramount importance in the United Nations system in recent times. Two fundamental Secretary-General reports, a Security Council resolution and a high-level meeting on the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse, followed by several initiatives at the highest political level, including a global compact adopted by Heads of States and governments in September 2017, are the main steps through which the gravity of the issue and the necessity to find effective remedies have been recently underlined. The history of the attempts to suppress the crime of sexual abuse and exploitation by peacekeepers, a crime committed by those who should prevent and contrast it, is long and disturbing. The phenomenon has been on the agenda of the United Nations system since the end of last century, causing several harsh debates among States and a
∗ This article is an updated and enlarged version of a study by the same author entitled La
repressione dei crimini di sfruttamento e abusi sessuali da parte dei peacekeepers. Recenti
sviluppi e prospettive future, in T
RIGGIANI
,
C
HERUBINI
,
I
NGRAVALLO
,
N
ALIN
,
V
IRZO
(a cura di), Dialoghi con Ugo Villani, I, Bari, 2017, 173-182. LAC OMUNIT
I
NTERNAZIONALE
F
ASC
. 3/2017 pp. 327-342
E
DITORIALE
S
CIENTIFICA
S
RL
Electronic copy available at https://ssrn.com/abstract=3181343

Electronic copy available at https://ssrn.com/abstract=3181343
LA COMUNITÀ INTERNAZIONALE
328 number of multifaceted, although sterile, initiatives within the UN
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Debates and initiatives that indicate the gravity of the issue and the inconsistencies and ambiguities, until very recent, of many States and of the United Nations. The necessity of repressing this type of crimes has had to face the opposition of those States – quite often among the main troop contributors – who support the idea that those who participate in peacekeeping operations should fully enjoy functional privileges and immunities, as is the case for international organization officers on the basis of well-known international treaties and conventions. Beyond the ambiguities and inconsistencies of some member States, a further difficulty in dealing with the repression of those crimes derives from the widening of the functions performed in peacekeeping operations that were once reserved only to military staff thus, the categories of peacekeepers agents have increased. Indeed, this element should betaken into account since those who participate in peacekeeping operations have different status depending on the categories to which they belong and to the activities they perform. Just to give an example the representative of the Secretary-General, the head of the military contingent, the head of the local police and high-ranking officials enjoy full diplomatic immunity the military observers, the members of the United Nations civilian police and agents enjoy the immunities reserved to experts in mission finally, the military personnel of the national contingents enjoy jurisdictional immuni- ties for the acts they perform during the mission and these immunities persist after the end of the service. The literature presents the terms of the initiatives and debates on the issue. See, for example, FLECK, Are Foreign Military Personnel Exempt from International Jurisdiction under