Panel Urges Changes in Using U.N. Soldiers

(NYT) – An independent panel reviewing United Nations peacekeeping operations recommended sweeping changes on Tuesday to make the blue-helmeted soldiers more accountable for sexual abuse and other crimes, and urged that they no longer be used in counter-terrorism operations. The panel also said that countries that use child soldiers should be barred from participating in peacekeeping missions, and that rich countries — including the permanent members of the Security Council, which decides where peacekeepers are deployed and what they do — should contribute troops. The panel was appointed by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to evaluate the structure and performance of United Nations peacekeeping, which now includes more than 125,000 soldiers and police officers in 16 missions.

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