111 Sri Lankais de la Minustah, accusés d'abus sexuels en Haïti sont renvoyés chez eux où ils devront faire face à la justice.On peut dire merci à Michèle Montas.

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


UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — More than 110 Sri Lankan peacekeepers serving with the UN mission in Haiti are to be sent back home over charges that they sexually exploited people, including minors, in the impoverished nation, the United Nations 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," UN spokeswoman Michele Montas said in a statement.

Les accusés du bataillon qui compte 950 membres (pourquoi tous ces Srilankais ? On a besoin de les caser quelque part ? Ils sont  unesource de problèmes possibles chez eux ?) seront rapatriés aujourd'hui samedi a déclaré Mme Montas.

Nick Birnback, a spokesman for the UN department of peacekeeping operations (DPKO), said 111 soldiers and three officers would be sent home, updating an earlier figure of 108 given by Montas.

Montas said the action was ordered "following allegations of incidents of sexual exploitation and abuse by members of MINUSTAH's Sri Lankan Battalion stationed in a number of locations in Haiti."

Mme Montas a déclaré que la décision de fairre une enquête avait été prise après plusieurs plaintes contre les membres du bataillon skrilankais qui stationnent dans un certain nombre de localités en Haïti.

The decision was made after a preliminary report by the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) and with the cooperation of Sri Lankan authorities.

Montas said MINUSTAH had requested the OIOS investigation and said Sri Lanka also sent a high-level national investigative team from Colombo, including a female investigative officer.

"The United Nations and Sri Lanka take this matter very seriously and reiterate their shared commitment to both the Secretary-General?s zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse and to best practices in peacekeeping," the UN statement said.

"The United Nations and the Sri Lankan government deeply regret any sexual exploitation and abuse that has occurred, despite their efforts to ensure the highest standards of conduct and discipline," it added.

Birnback hailed the fact that the Sri Lankan government accepted full responsibility and decided to be "as transparent and as cooperative" aspossible.
Le gouvernement du Sri Lanka a accepté de prendre toute la responsabilité des fautes commises par ses soldats et a décidé  de se montrer " aussi transparent et coopératif" que possible.

"We think it's a positive development," he told AFP.

Montas meanwhile said that some of the Haitian women involved in the sex-for-money scandal were minors.
Mme Montas a déclaré que quelques unes des Haïtiennes engagées dans ce scandale de sexe-pour-argent étaient des mineures.

The case is the latest to hit UN peacekeepers who have been embroiled in similar incidents in Ivory Coast, the Democratic Republic Congo (DRC) and Liberia.
Le cas d'Haïti est le dernier d'une série. En Côte d'Ivoire, en République du Congo et au Libérai des cas d'abus sexuels par des soldats de l'oNU ont été signalés.

The UN -- after turning a blind eye for decades to cases of sexual abuse by its peacekeepers -- recommended in 2005 that erring soldiers be punished, their salaries frozen and a fund established to aid any women or girls made pregnant.
Pendant des dizaines d'années l'Onu a fermé les yeux sur les abus sexuels des "soldats de la paix" -recommande depuis 2005 des punitions contre les fautif, le gel de leur salaires et la création d'un fond pour aider les femmes ou les adolescentes enceintes. (Mais attention les pays  dont sont originaires les "soldats de la paix" de l'ONU ne sont pas d'accord avec cette nouvelle politique.)

This was part of a "zero tolerance" policy regarding sexual misconduct, including a "non-fraternization" rule that bars UN peacekeepers from having sex with locals.
une nouvelle politique de zéro tolérance interdit, dont une règle de  " non-fraternisation, interdit aux "soldats de la paix" de l'Onu d'avoir des relations sexuelles avec les locaux.

The policy was adopted after revelations in December 2004 that peacekeepers in DRC were involved in the sexual abuse of 13-year-old girls in exchange for eggs, milk or cash sums as low as one dollar.
Cette politique a été adoptée après la découverte qu'en République Dominicaine des soldats  de la paix  avaient des relations sexuelles avec des adolescentes de 13 ans en échange d'oeufs, de lait et de sommes d'argent aussi basse que 1 dollar.


Most of the nearly 100,000 troops serving in UN peacekeeping operations around the world cannot be disciplined by the world body as they are answerable to troop-contributing countries, UN officials said.

Under Brazilian command, MINUSTAH currently deploys 7,054 troops and 1,771 police officers in Haiti. The mission began after then-Haitian president Jean Bertrand Aristide fled an uprising in February 2004. (toujours les mêmes conneries répétées; il n'y a pas eu de "uprising" mais des voyous armés par des bandits, il ne s'est pas enfui on l'a déporté)

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 dollar a day, according to UN officials.

Haiti for generations has suffered through coups, unspeakable poverty and violence. Aid groups in recent months have also reported a rising number of civilian sex assaults against women.
Les associations d'aide ont consttaé une augmentation des agressions sexuelles sur les femmes ( Normal quand  débauche, mensonge,  violence corruption et impunité sont la règle à la tête de la société, le reste apprend à faire de même. Et ça contamine toutes les classes)

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UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - More than 100 Sri Lankan peacekeepers have been accused of sexual exploitation and abuse in Haiti and will be sent home on Saturday, the United Nations said, in the latest sexual abuse scandal involving U.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 soldiers in Haiti were being sent home on disciplinary grounds.

"The United Nations and the Sri Lankan government deeply regret any sexual exploitation and abuse that has occurred," Montas told reporters, adding that U.N. authorities were working to assist the victims.


Asked about the specific allegations against the peacekeepers, Montas said they involved "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 ... that they are going to be prosecuted in Sri Lanka."

Over the last few years as peacekeeping missions have expanded, reports of abuse have spread in various African nations, especially the Democratic Republic of the Congo, despite the U.N.'s declared "zero-tolerance" policy.

The United Nations largely ignored sexual exploitation by peacekeepers and other field staff for decades, launching a public crackdown only in recent years after reports of abuse surfaced in the Congo.

A 2005 U.N. report said soldiers should be punished for any sexual abuse, their pay docked and a fund set up to assist any women and girls they impregnated. But member nations have not agreed.