From MSNBC

Disturbing the peace

‘Dateline' uncovers violence committed by U.N. peacekeepers

January 11 — They are charged with some of the most crucial work on earth. For 50 years, United Nations peacekeepers have been deployed around the globe to put food into the hands of the starving, to protect refugees from the bullets of-warring factions, to alleviate suffering and to stop torture. But now,"Dateline" has uncovered evidence that some of the violence has been committed by the peacekeepers themselves. Here's "Dateline NBC" correspondent Lea
Thompson with a disturbing report about abuse of the powerless.

'These Somalis were being hunted by these men. I remember hearing the troopsyell "I got one!"'— KYLE BROWN
Former U.N. peacekeeper

THEY'RE CALLED "blue helmets," peacekeepersfrom the United Nations, sent into hot spots all over the world. Their work
is hard. They stop fighting, deliver food and medicine, protect human rights and it's dangerous. More than 500 blue helmets have been killed in action in the last 50 years.

These heroic soldiers have even won the Nobel Peace Prize and all of us pay for this good work. Although the U.S. owes money to the U.N., American taxpayers still kick in more than $200 million a year for peacekeeping.

But the noble goals of the United Nations aren't always carried out by its peacekeepers. "Dateline NBC" has found that some of these very same soldiers who are supposed to be protecting civilians have instead been accused
of committing terrible crimes against them: everything from child prostitution to smuggling drugs and weapons, torture, rape, even murder. And what may be worse, critics say the U.N. is doing very little to stop it. A result:
crimes of war, committed by soldiers of peace.

Conflicts and peacemakers: Hot zones where U.N. or other peacekeeping forces are already engaged or may soon be.

For example, in the African nation of Somalia, peacekeepers on a U.S.-led mission were so brazen they actually took pictures of their atrocities — trophy photos — as souvenirs. Italian peacekeepers snapped away as they pinned a man to the ground and allegedly shocked his genitals withwires from a radio generator.

Other Italian peacekeepers took photos as they bound a woman to an armored truck and allegedly raped her with a flare gun. Peacekeepers from Belgium were photographed roasting a boy over an open fire. A witness said the
boy went into shock after his clothes caught on fire. The soldiers were acquitted of torture after the child couldn't be located. The peacekeepers claimed it was just a game to discourage the boy from stealing.

AN INCREASING PROBLEM

‘It's become worse recently, because U.N. peacekeeping has happened in much greater scale and volume.'
— JOHN HILLEN Former U.S. peacekeeper

And these are only some of the cases we know about because peacekeepers took trophy photos. Experts say many more cases
of wrong doing still haven't come to light. "Not only were these soldiers committing these extraordinary crimes, but they're actually documenting their crimes themselves," says John Hillen, a former peacekeeper for the U.S. He's now a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies who has written extensively on peacekeeping and believes in it. Hillen points out bad soldiers from many armies have abused civilians. And he says the number of U.N. peacekeepers who have committed crimes over the past 50 years is small, but he says in recent years, incidents have increased greatly.

"It's become worse recently, because U.N. peacekeeping has happened in much greater scale and volume," says Hillen.

Former UN peacekeeper Kyle Brown says when desperate Somalis tried to steal their food, some peacekeepers in his unit turned violent.

Kyle Brown was a peacekeeper, an elite Canadian paratrooper sent to Somalia on a U.S.-led mission. Part of his job was to help the starving people of Somalia.

But Brown says that when desperate Somalis tried to steal their food, some peacekeepers in his unit turned violent. "That seemed to be the only language that they understood, violence. You know, these people lived and died by violence," he says.

Brown also says his commanders had issued orders to "rough up" the locals — even had the soldiers set out food and water for "bait" to lure hungry Somalis into shooting range.

Lea Thompson: "You used the term ‘turkey shoot.'"
Kyle Brown: "Yes. These Somalis were being hunted by these men. I remember hearing the troops yell ‘I got one!'"

The peacekeepers tied up a 16-year-old Somali boy at a weapons bunker — nicknamed "the pit" — who had been hanging around the compound. Brown says the corporal who was supervising him blindfolded the boy, bound his legs, and tied his hands behind his back.

According to Brown, the corporal kicked the boy, then beat him with a baton and a lead pipe. Soldiers later testified the beating continued for hours and more than a dozen different peacekeepers came by to watch and some even joined in, including Brown. In all, more than 80 soldiers heard the boy's screams, and no one came to his rescue. But peacekeeper Brown did pull out his camera and take pictures. He says it was his corporal's idea.

A medic later found cigarette burns on the teenager's feet and genitals and evidence that he was raped with the peacekeepers' baton. After hours of torture, the boy finally died.

Lea Thompson: "As you watched him do this, you knew it was wrong."

Kyle Brown: "I knew it was wrong."

Thompson: "You knew it was beyond the rules?"

Brown: "Yes, and at the same time the reality was he was under orders to do what he was doing."

Thompson: "So you stood back?"

Brown: "I stood back. It wasn't a conscious effort, it wasn't something I consciously tried to do."

U.N. ADMITS PROBLEMS

In fact, he and the U.N. admit peacekeepers have had serious problems with child prostitution, drug dealing and running brothels. "Larceny, racketeering, black marketeering, smuggling, prostitution, these sorts of things, but done in a very systematic and organized fashion," says Hillen.

In Bosnia, more than 20 peacekeepers were kicked out for theft and corruption. Nearly four dozen others were sent home after allegedly abusing mental patients at a hospital. Peacekeepers from Canada were accused of beatings, rape and sexual abuse of a handicapped teenage girl.

Canadian peacekeepers who were sent to Africa made their own home movies. Among them, a corporal, who admits he was a neo-Nazi. Canada did take action against its troops. It kicked one peacekeeper out after he returned from Somalia. It reprimanded 22 other soldiers and expelled two officers who were in Bosnia.

The Italian military also has disciplined 12 peacekeepers for abusing civilians in Somalia. But, it has filed no criminal charges against soldiers who are accused of rape and electrocution. Five years later, Italian authorities tell "Dateline" they are still investigating.

Frowarded by Tarek Fateh
Excerpts from Dateline NBC