[R-G] Fwd: Over 101 Sri Lankan peacekeepers in Haiti charged with sexually and abusing Haitian population, including minor children

Sun Nov 4 22:53:57 MST 2007

	From: 	  erzilidanto at yahoo.com
	Subject: 	[CHAN] [ezilidanto] Over 101 Sri Lankan peacekeepers in  
Haiti charged with sexually and abusing Haitian population, including  
minor children
	Date: 	November 2, 2007 10:11:30 PM PDT (CA)
	To: 	  ezilidanto at lists.riseup.net
	Reply-To: 	  erzilidanto at yahoo.com

Recommended HLLN Link:
UN Peacekeepers in Haiti abhorrent violation of the fundamental of  
care: sexualabuse and engaging in child prostitutionhttp:// 
www.margueritelaurent.com/pressclips/festival.html#sexexploitation

********************in this post****************
- Sri Lankan peacekeepers in Haiti sex scandal, Nov. 2, 2007,  
AFPhttp://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jv1Dg19IGQjacW3GTAozDzgm43iQ
- UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - More than 100 Sri Lankan peacekeepers  
have beenaccused of sexual exploitation and abuse in Haiti and will  
be sent home onSaturday, the United Nations said, in the latest  
sexual abuse scandal involvingU.N. peacekeeping missions. Nov. 2,  
2007http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKN0259118620071102
************************************************

Sri Lankan peacekeepers in Haiti sex scandalhttp://afp.google.com/ 
article/ALeqM5jv1Dg19IGQjacW3GTAozDzgm43iQ

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — More than 110 Sri Lankan peacekeepers serving  
with theUN mission in Haiti are to be sent back home over charges  
that they sexuallyexploited people, including minors, in the  
impoverished nation, the UnitedNations said Friday.
It was the latest in a series of such scandals to besmirch the world  
body.
The accused from Sri Lanka's 950-strong contingent in the UN mission  
in Haiti(MINUSTAH) "will be repatriated on disciplinary grounds on  
Saturday," UNspokeswoman Michele Montas said in a statement.
Nick Birnback, a spokesman for the UN department of peacekeeping  
operations(DPKO), said 111 soldiers and three officers would be sent  
home, updating anearlier figure of 108 given by Montas.
Montas said the action was ordered "following allegations of  
incidents ofsexual exploitation and abuse by members of MINUSTAH?s  
Sri Lankan Battalionstationed in a number of locations in Haiti."
The decision was made after a preliminary report by the UN Office of  
InternalOversight Services (OIOS) and with the cooperation of Sri  
Lankan authorities.
Montas said MINUSTAH had requested the OIOS investigation and said  
Sri Lankaalso sent a high-level national investigative team from  
Colombo, including afemale investigative officer.
"The United Nations and Sri Lanka take this matter very seriously and  
reiteratetheir shared commitment to both the Secretary-General?s zero- 
tolerance policyon sexual exploitation and abuse and to best  
practices in peacekeeping," the UNstatement said.
"The United Nations and the Sri Lankan government deeply regret any  
sexualexploitation and abuse that has occurred, despite their efforts  
to ensure thehighest standards of conduct and discipline," it added.
Birnback hailed the fact that the Sri Lankan government accepted  
fullresponsibility and decided to be "as transparent and as  
cooperative" aspossible.
"We think it's a positive development," he told AFP.
Montas meanwhile said that some of the Haitian women involved in  
thesex-for-money scandal were minors.
The case is the latest to hit UN peacekeepers who have been embroiled  
insimilar incidents in Ivory Coast, the Democratic Republic Congo  
(DRC) andLiberia.
The UN -- after turning a blind eye for decades to cases of sexual  
abuse by itspeacekeepers -- recommended in 2005 that erring soldiers  
be punished, theirsalaries frozen and a fund established to aid any  
women or girls made pregnant.
This was part of a "zero tolerance" policy regarding sexual  
misconduct,including a "non-fraternization" rule that bars UN  
peacekeepers from having sexwith locals.
The policy was adopted after revelations in December 2004 that  
peacekeepers inDRC were involved in the sexual abuse of 13-year-old  
girls in exchange foreggs, milk or cash sums as low as one dollar.
Most of the nearly 100,000 troops serving in UN peacekeeping  
operations aroundthe world cannot be disciplined by the world body as  
they are answerable totroop-contributing countries, UN officials said.
Under Brazilian command, MINUSTAH currently deploys 7,054 troops and  
1,771police officers in Haiti. The mission began after then-Haitian  
president JeanBertrand Aristide fled an uprising in February 2004.
Its main troops contributors are: Brazil, Uruguay, Sri Lanka, Jordan,  
Nepal,Argentina and Chile.
More than half of the Caribbean island's 8.4 million people live on  
one dollara day, according to UN officials.
Haiti for generations has suffered through coups, unspeakable poverty  
andviolence. Aid groups in recent months have also reported a rising  
number ofcivilian sex assaults against women.
***************************
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - More than 100 Sri Lankan peacekeepers have  
beenaccused of sexual exploitation and abuse in Haiti and will be  
sent home onSaturday, the United Nations said, in the latest sexual  
abuse scandal involvingU.N. peacekeeping missions. Nov. 2, 2007
http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKN0259118620071102
U.N. spokeswoman Michele Montas said on Friday 108 of Sri Lanka's 950  
soldiersin Haiti were being sent home on disciplinary grounds.
"The United Nations and the Sri Lankan government deeply regret any  
sexualexploitation and abuse that has occurred," Montas told  
reporters, adding thatU.N. authorities were working to assist the  
victims.
Asked about the specific allegations against the peacekeepers, Montas  
said theyinvolved "transactional sex."
"There is a question of some underage girls," she added.
Montas said Sri Lanka would take further action against those accused  
of abuse."They are back under national jurisdiction. So far Sri Lanka  
has said ... thatthey are going to be prosecuted in Sri Lanka."
Over the last few years as peacekeeping missions have expanded,  
reports ofabuse have spread in various African nations, especially  
the DemocraticRepublic of the Congo, despite the U.N.'s declared  
"zero-tolerance" policy.
The United Nations largely ignored sexual exploitation by  
peacekeepers andother field staff for decades, launching a public  
crackdown only in recentyears after reports of abuse surfaced in the  
Congo.
A 2005 U.N. report said soldiers should be punished for any sexual  
abuse, theirpay docked and a fund set up to assist any women and  
girls they impregnated.But member nations have not agreed.
************************************Haitian Lawyers Leadership  
Network***********************************

UN troops accuse of Child Sexual Abuse in Haiti, BBC News, Nov. 30,  
2006http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6195830.stm
Haiti Rapeshttp://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=7305
Sexual Tourism in Haiti on Filmhttp://www.margueritelaurent.com/ 
pressclips/festival.html#abuse

******Haiti Defamed by controversial HIV Studyhttp:// 
www.margueritelaurent.com/pressclips/defamed.html  and http:// 
www.margueritelaurent.com/pressclips/defamed1.html
Possible Media Bias on coverage of Gilbert/Worobey reporthttp:// 
www.margueritelaurent.com/pressclips/defamed1.html#media
The Two Most Common Storylines about Haiti and Haitians http:// 
www.margueritelaurent.com/campaigns/campaignone/presswork/ 
lovinsky2.html#kym07
**********

U.S. Patterns in Haitihttp://www.margueritelaurent.com/pressclips/ 
dessalines07.html#malice
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