US-Trained Peacekeepers Not Vetted for Abuses, Says Report

June 27, 2008 — -- US-trained peacekeepers were not properly vetted for human rights violations before taking roles in war-torn countries, according to a new government report.

Hundreds of peacekeepers, who are drawn from security forces in countries around the world and trained by the State Department and the Department of Defense, were not properly screened for abuses they may have committed in the past, according to a Government Accountability Office report.

"As a result of these lapses in vetting, it is possible that State and DOD have provided training to security personnel who committed human rights violations," concludes the report, although it does not detail any evidence that such abuses were actually committed by peacekeepers.

The report found that all 81 military peacekeepers from Honduras who received training in 2007 were not vetted before participating in training courses funded by the US-administered Global Peace Operations Initiative. The State Department's most recent human rights report on Honduras found "unlawful killings by members of the police and government agents, beatings and other abuse of detainees by security forces" in the country.

In addition, a 665-person Nigerian battalion trained by GPOI and 16 military peacekeepers and stability police from Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Nigeria and Sri Lanka were not screened for human rights violations. Human rights reports on all of those countries detailed reports of extra-judicial killings by security forces.

While the commanders of seven composite units in Niger, Nigeria and Uganda were screened, the individual members of those units were not vetted, according to the report.

The potential for peacekeepers to commit crimes, especially human rights violations, has been highlighted in recent years by UN reports which found that their own peacekeepers have been accused of offenses ranging from sexual abuse of children to arms smuggling.

Currently, the UN is investigating three peacekeepers from India who were accused of gold and ivory smuggling and supplying arms to militias in Congo.