Topic: 2025 – Criminal Accountability of UN Officials
Country: Kazakhstan
Delegate Name: Rowan Babbage
Country: Kazakhstan
Committee: LEGAL
Topic: Criminal Accountability of UN Officials
Delegate: Rowan Babbage
School: Williamston High School
United Nations (UN) officials in the past have had undefined criminal accountability. When offences are committed by a UN official, there are few defined ways to bring them to justice. Due to some allegations in Haiti, the Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo regarding misconduct by UN officials, the criminal accountability of UN officials has become subject to international attention. Recently, in 2023, the UN held a General Assembly to determine the fate of UN officials charged with misconduct in countries where they were acting as peacekeepers.
Kazakhstan supports punishment from the offended nation in relation to criminal accountability of UN officials. There have not been any criminal UN officials who have been active in Kazakhstan, but Kazakhstan is concerned by the allegations in Haiti and other countries. Kazakhstan is quite reasonable in its punishments for criminals; the death penalty has been formally abolished in Kazakhstan since 2021. In 2023, the UN passed a resolution paper regarding the criminal accountability of UN officials, which dictated that UN officials will be prosecuted by the country in which they committed the offence they were accused of while performing their peacekeeping duties. This resolution also upheld the previous dictates of a 2005 UN assembly. Kazakhstan identifies with this resolution.
Kazakhstan would like to resolve this issue by upholding the resolution to let the countries that have been affected by criminal UN officials determine said officials’ fate. To respect the UN’s immunity and independence, Kazakhstan proposes a joint system of punishment, where the UN takes part in the sentencing of the offending official. This proposed solution would allow the affected country to prosecute the offender, as has been determined in past resolutions, but would also let the UN be independent from said country’s restrictions. This resolution lets the offender be prosecuted fairly and lets the country affected maintain their independence from the UN. Kazakhstan believes that it will find allies in this solution with South Africa, which supports government action against UN criminal officials.
Works Cited
Motsepe, Keke. “Statement on behalf of the Republic of South Africa.” United Nations, 2023, https://www.un.org/en/ga/sixth/78/pdfs/statements/criminal_accountability/08mtg_southafrica.pdf. Accessed 24 11 2025.
United Nations. “Criminal accountability of United Nations officials and experts on mission.” United Nations Document Viewer, 2023, https://docs.un.org/en/A/RES/78/102. Accessed 24 11 2025.
