Haiti: United Nations Peace-keepers Held Accountable for Abuses

Agent-x - June 21 2012, 11:46 AM

According to mccottawa-ca on 14 june 2012, MINUSTAH Peace-keepers United Nations Radio
Haiti: United Nations Peace-keepers Held Accountable for Abuses
Kristen and Wawa Chege, Advocacy Coordinators, MCC Haiti
06/14/2012
The current case of UN peacekeeping soldiers, charged with the sexual assault of a young Haitian, raises issues of accountability and effectiveness in the United Nations Stabilizing Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH).

An MCC Haiti partner organization, National Human Rights Defense Network (RNDDH) is working to ensure that this case is not lost, but rather demonstrates that no one is above the law.
Accountability for human rights abuses in Haiti comes in fits and spurts, where months, and even years, may go by before violations are taken to trial.

The uphill task of bringing perpetrators to justice becomes even harder when the accused individuals are part of a larger entity with the political power and bureaucratic loop-holes big enough to stall legal proceedings.

Laws articulated in the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between the government of Haiti and the United Nations provide immunity, meaning: troops serving with MINUSTAH cannot be tried in Haitian courts for criminal cases.

Therefore members of MINUSTAH suspected of committing crimes while serving in Haiti, can only be tried at home.
The violations by members of the MINUSTAH peace-keeping force have long been swept under the carpet, with brushing remarks.

The 2011 U.S. State Department country report on Haiti indicates that of the fourteen sexual abuse cases brought against MINUSTAH, twelve remain pending, and one was considered

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