There are fresh facts emerging on the viral video of unidentified people having sex in a UN-marked official car in Israel.
Inner City Press, the media house that leaked the video said its the reporter who leaked the video has been banned by the UN. In a statement issued on its Twitter page, the media house said:
“UN Sexploitation in UN Vehicle” video leaked to Inner City Press. What’ll UN of rape cover-up Sec-Gen @AntonioGuterres, who has banned Inner City Press for 721 days & counting for asking about his financial links to UN briber CEFC China Energy, do?”
Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesman for the UN’s Secretary-General, António Guterres, described the behaviour seen in the 18-second video as “abhorrent”.
That kind of behaviour “goes against everything we stand for and having been working to achieve in terms of fighting misconduct by UN staff”, Mr Dujarric told the BBC on Friday.
When asked if the apparent sex act was consensual or involved payment, Mr Dujarric said those questions were part of the ongoing investigation.
“We are shocked and deeply disturbed by what is seen on this video,” Mr Dujarric said in a statement cited by the BBC.
He said an investigation led by the UN’s Office of Internal Oversight Services was “moving very quickly”.
#NewsAlert: Shocking video shows a United Nations vehicle that paid a hooker of a road to get sex in the back of the car, with a official @UN delegation member in the back! pic.twitter.com/0PoWZd20oG
— Backup account (@Sotiridi1) June 24, 2020
Mr Dujarric said the location of the incident was known and identification of the individuals seen in the video was “close to being completed”.
Based on buildings visible in the video, the footage appears to have been captured on HaYarkon Street, a usually busy area parallel to the promenade.
“We expect the process to be concluded very quickly and intend to promptly take the appropriate action,” Mr Dujarric said.
However, there are signs that the UN could be having a deep-rooted problem with sexual misconduct.
Heather Barr, co-director of Human Rights Watch’s women’s rights division cited by the BBC, said she was “not surprised” by the video from Israel.
Ms Barr, who worked for the UN in Burundi and Afghanistan, said it was “good they’re investigating it”, but added that the UN “has a bigger problem than this one video”.
“That problem is about allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse committed by staff members of the UN,” Ms Barr said.
In 2019, there were 175 allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse against UN staff members, a report said. Of those allegations, 16 were substantiated, 15 were unsubstantiated and all others were still being investigated.
