UNITED NATIONS: A former United Nations official on Friday accused the UN internal oversight body of covering up evidence of gold smuggling and arms trafficking by UN peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) however has dismissed the charge as baseless. Matthias Basanisi, former deputy chief investigator at the OIOS, wrote in the New York Times that UN rejections of criticism that it failed to police itself in Congo were not credible. Basanisi wrote that in 2006 his team of internal oversight investigators found "credible" evidence of abuses by Pakistani peacekeepers in Congo.

"My fellow team members and I were appalled to see that the oversight office's final report was little short of a whitewash," he wrote. "We found corroborative information that senior officers of the Pakistani contingent secretly returned seized weapons to two warlords in exchange for gold, and that the Pakistani peacekeepers tipped off two warlords about plans by the UN peacekeeping force and the Congolese Army to arrest them,” he argued.

Pakistan has dismissed the allegations against its peacekeepers as baseless. OIOS responded to Basanisi’s piece by saying that it "categorically refuted all the accusations by Mr Basanisi as baseless." The UN Internal Oversight office told Reuters Basanisi "was not able to provide credible corroboration of a single allegation" and "never progressed further than cataloging allegations." Talking to APP the UN said , "OIOS reiterates that it drew the right conclusions based on the evidence. As in all cases, OIOS applied common quality control procedures to examine and test whether evidence has been adduced." Basanisi said that he believed that one of the motives for the oversight office, the UN independent auditing body, producing what he describes as "watered-down reports" is that Pakistan is one of the largest UN troop contributors. agencies


Daily Times

"UN, you have a problem with that? You know what you should do? Sanction me. Sanction me with your army.

Oh wait a minute! You don't have an army! I guess that means you need to shut the fucck up!

- Dave Chappelle

nice.. perfect timing

Actually, the UN has an army, and the largest contributor to the UN Peacekeeping force is Pakistan.

lol now thats irony

I'm sure they did it though. This guy has nothing to gain by falsely accusing them. If you believe PA officers are above this you have to be really gullible.

Well obviously, just look at the facts: be a good soldier and follow orders and you make an alright living while having to put your life on the line for a conflict that is completely foreign and you could care less about. OR just be a little corrupt and make huge amounts of money. That way the militias don't target you or your fellow soldiers and you can make a pretty comfortable living for not only yourself but also your entire family. So considering that, yes, PA and IA officers and soldiers alike have no doubt taken part in this.

Pakistanis aren't above this and neither are richer societies...like most military organizations, those officers are likelier to be hit by the book than some of our civilian elites. As disgusting as their crime is, can it compare to the stuff some leaders have? If these officers get court martialed, their careers are over and their like will be seen as a disgrace to the institution.

lol, trust me...if we're giving murderers peace treaties, aid and our government posts...these army chaps will get the boot harder than any of those other bastards.

It was most likely a handful who did it, but its ridiculous as to how much controversy is being raised. Yet when UN Peace keepers in Bosnia (most of them of European descent) did absolutely nothing to protect the tens of thousands of Bosnians being slaughtered and raped and above that even banned weapons from being transferred over to the Bosnian Muslims, very little outcry was heard. I think its becoming a little clearer as to who is racist and who isn't, wouldn't you agree? When PA or IA officials engage in some corruption, huge outcries. Yet when other UN Peace keepers fail to stop genocide and also help the process (there were even cases in which the Serbs were wearing Dutch UN uniforms), not too much is said...