news revealed on Tuesday this week that Norwegian officers on UN missions in South Sudan were punished for buying sex and for unregulated contact with local women. Several officers were also punished for assaulting a locally employed woman in the Norwegian camp, called Norway House. Norway House was situated by itself, 10 minutes’ drive from the headquarters of the United Nations. Photo: Torbjørn Kjosvold / Forsvaret A total of seven officers were disciplined following the investigation in South Sudan. After the events in 2013, two of the officers who received the strict military response known as refs were sent out again on new assignments abroad in 2018 and 2019. One of those who was sent out again was the commander of a Norwegian force abroad, news told. As a general rule, the Norwegian Defense Force states that reprimanded persons should not be sent out on new international operations. – Strange that I did not find out if the Norwegian Hilde Frafjord Johnson was responsible for all UN operations in South Sudan from 2011 to 2014. Johnson reacts strongly to the conditions for which the Norwegian officers have been punished, and says it is unacceptable. – It is unacceptable that Norwegian officers in the UN, whose mission is to protect civilians, actually exploit civilians and vulnerable people in this way, says the former special representative to news. Hilde Frafjord Johnson says that cases of sexual abuse were a problem in general in South Sudan. Photo: CHARLES ATIKI LOMODONG / AFP news is first in contact with Frafjord Johnson about this case in March this year. Then she said she had never heard of this before. When news now contacts her again for an interview, she says that she is very surprised that she did not find out about this back in 2013. – So you are sure that you did not find out about this when you were chief in South Sudan? – No, I didn’t get that, and I had good contact with the Norwegian part of the UN operation. – Should you have known? – Yes, I think I should have known that. I learned of other contingents, whose officers had transgressed these rules. So then it’s strange that I didn’t find out about the Norwegians. If someone violated these rules, there was follow-up from the UN headquarters in New York and from us locally. I find it very unfortunate that this was not conveyed to me. – Why didn’t you find out? – No, I don’t know that. You almost have to ask the contingent and those in charge about that. I don’t know the reason for that, says Frafjord Johnson. – Is it a bit strange? – Yes, it’s a bit strange, it’s almost as if someone has tried to keep it hidden, says Frafjord Johnson today. Frafjord Johnson says there was no formal reporting system, since the countries that contributed forces have jurisdiction over their own soldiers and officers. – It was my security manager who became aware of such abuses in the various contingents and reported to me. I probably didn’t get to know all the incidents, but there was an expectation of reporting, explains Frafjord Johnson. The Chief of Defense: – That’s not how it should be Chief of Defense Eirik Kristoffersen does not know why the UN chief in South Sudan, Hilde Frafjord Johnson, was unaware of what happened at Norway House. – It is common for the Norwegian local leader in such an operation to report to the one above him in the chain of command. Why that hasn’t happened I don’t know. But that’s not how it should be, says the defense chief to news. Chief of Defense Eirik Kristoffersen is upset about the events in South Sudan. He explains that two reprimanded persons were sent out again with the fact that the reprimand was not visible to the case handlers. Photo: Torstein Bøe / news – I brought it up in conversations with my superiors In 2013, Colonel Petter Lindqvist was military chief of staff for the entire UN operation in South Sudan. As the highest-ranking Norwegian officer, he was responsible for the officers in Norway House. He tells news that he reported home to the Armed Forces about the incidents while they were taking place. Those who pack their bags and travel to South Sudan have agreed to abide by a set of regulations that are crystal clear on what to do and what not to do, says Lindqvist. Photo: Frode Fjerdingstad / news He emphasizes that he did not become aware of the punishments, the result of the investigation, until after he had finished his service in South Sudan. Therefore, it was also not natural to report to Frafjord Johnson, because the cases had not been concluded, says Lindqvist. – The seriousness of the incidents I actually knew about did not make it natural to report, says Lindqvist today. In a UN database of violations of the regulations in field operations, Norway is not listed with any incidents. This is evident from the category called sexual exploitation. The database is based on the countries’ own self-reporting. At the same time, those who created the database have reservations about the quality of data submitted before 2015. – The Norwegian officers were well aware of the rules Frafjord Johnson says that the topic of exploitation of the local population and sexual abuse should be a familiar topic for the Norwegian officers, because it was a big deal during her time as UN chief in South Sudan. The UN has focused on sexual abuse in the country all the way back to the time when the country was characterized by acts of war and the struggle for liberation. When the peacekeeping force (UNMISS) was established in 2011, the UN Security Council stated that all parties had to stop the use of sexual violence and other abuses against women. The problem did not end, however. In 2014, the UN’s special envoy against sexual violence in war and conflict stated that “sexual violence was a pervasive problem in the conflict in South Sudan” – and that all parties to the conflict were behind such abuse. – We were aware that there was some buying of sex and provision of sex services. We also discovered what can actually be called pimping in connection with the entire UN operation. We tackled that. We found the actors, those who had recruited girls into the base were fired. So there was a lot of attention on this, says Frafjord Johnson. Hilde Frafjord Johnson reacts to the cases about Norwegian officers. Photo: Bibiana Piene / NTB scanpix The UN Human Rights Council has been presented with figures showing that 72 per cent of women in four refugee camps said they had been raped since the conflict started. The figures came from a survey carried out by the UN Population Fund in 2015. Many of the rapes were carried out by police and soldiers. – I myself gave speeches and presentations at general meetings about this, to draw attention to how seriously we viewed it. So the Norwegian officers were well aware of the rules and awareness of this and what measures we implemented, she says. – This is why this is extra disappointing, because awareness of the topic was extra high when this happened, she says to news. The documents news has been given access to by the Attorney General contain a review of the findings from the investigation and recommendations on refs. Photo: Øyvind Bye Skille / news news has made contact with seven of the eight officers who were investigated in South Sudan. Most do not want to comment on the matter. The officer disciplined for sexually abusing the local employee confirmed that he received and accepted the discipline. – I accepted the punishment because I needed to put this behind me. He does not feel struck by the fact that the actions contravene the regulations, and that officers have a responsibility for how they act towards people in a vulnerable and subordinate position. – It was voluntary sex between adults, he says. – They are vulnerable people Hilde Frafjord Johnson says that the background for the UN banning the purchase of sex and intercourse with locals is that the population they are supposed to protect is often traumatized and affected by war, such as in South Sudan. – There are vulnerable people who do not know how to make tomorrow go together. They are often in a desperate situation, and we know that women and girls are most vulnerable. This is not a voluntary prostitution business. We are talking about people who are in extremely vulnerable situations, says Johnson to news. She also reacts to the fact that two of the punishing officers were allowed to travel abroad again, in new foreign operations. – My assessment of that is not acceptable. If you have done something so gross then that person should not go out again on new foreign missions for Norway in my opinion, says Frafjord Johnson. The Norwegian officers in the UN operation in South Sudan were based in the capital Juba.
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Didn’t find out about Norwegian sex purchases – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
