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U.N., Haiti, Uruguay probe sexual assault

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Published : Sept. 7, 2011 - 10:58

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UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- The United Nations, Haiti and Uruguay are investigating allegations that U.N. peacekeepers from Uruguay sexually abused an 18-year-old Haitian man, the United Nations said Tuesday.

U.N. deputy spokesman Eduardo del Buey told reporters that the five alleged perpetrators have been confined to barracks pending the outcome of the three investigations.

The alleged attack occurred on July 20 but only became public last week when a video taken by cell phone was circulated and the U.N. announced an investigation. The Uruguayan military has called the incident at the peacekeepers' base in Port-Salut on Haiti's south coast a prank that got out of hand and says a preliminary U.N. investigation shows no evidence of rape.

“If the investigations prove that the allegations are true,” del Buey said, “we would expect that these people be prosecuted in the full extent of the law.”

In a statement Sunday, the Uruguayan defense ministry said a U.N. preliminary investigation had found that the men did not sexually abuse the Haitian teen but that they committed misconduct by allowing a civilian into their barracks and could face severe penalties.

The video of the encounter is clearly sexual in nature. However, a U.N. spokeswoman in Haiti, Eliane Nabaa, said the U.N. had not come to any conclusions -- a view echoed by del Buey who said “we are waiting to see what the outcome of the investigations are.”

Dr. Clifford Gauthier, a physician who examined the young man a month after the alleged attack, told the AP in Haiti that he found evidence that was consistent with signs of sexual abuse even five weeks after the attack. He said he asked the young man why he waited so long for treatment and didn't get an answer.

While allegations of abuse have dogged U.N. peacekeeping missions since their inception over 50 years ago, the issue was thrust into the spotlight after the United Nations found in early 2005 that peacekeepers in Congo had sex with Congolese women and girls, usually in exchange for food or small sums of money.

The U.N. peacekeeping department instituted a “zero tolerance” policy against sexual abuse, a new code of conduct for its more than 110,000 peacekeepers deployed around the world and new training for officers and all U.N. personnel. Nonetheless, allegations of sexual abuse persist in Congo and elsewhere.

The United Nations doesn't have the authority to prosecute those accused of sexual abuse but it has urged countries that deployed the troops to pursue legal action against alleged perpetrators.

“We're very gratified with reports that we got from the Uruguayan Defense Ministry that they would take appropriate action if the allegations are proven to be true,” del Buey said.

Haitian President Michel Martelly has “vigorously condemned” the alleged assault of the young Haitian, calling it an “act that revolts the national conscience.” Several hundred Haitians demonstrated in Port-Salut on Monday, calling for reparations for the young man.

The allegation threatened to worsen the reputation of the U.N. in Haiti which is viewed by many Haitians as an occupying force. Many Haitians are still angry over a cholera outbreak that was inadvertently brought to the country by peacekeepers from Nepal last year.

Del Buey was asked whether in light of the video, the U.N. was retracting its statement on Aug. 18 that the allegations of sexual abuse were unfounded.

“It's not being retracted,” he said. “We did not comment on the video because ... we didn't know where the video came from, who took it. We don't have a sort of chain of evidence to show that the video was bona fide.”

“That video is now part of the court case that the family is bringing against the Haitian prosecutor, and the family is bringing against the five perpetrators. So the video is something that we would not like to comment on because it is evidence in an ongoing investigation,” he said.

 

<한글 기사>

유엔 평화유지군, 아이티서 성추문으로 곤욕

18세 소년 성추행 동영상 언론에 공개

아이티에 파견된 유엔 평화유지군 병사들 이 18세 소년을 성추행하는 동영상이 언론에 공개되면서 평화유지군에 대한 아이티 내 민심이 사나워지고 있다.

5일 아이티 남부의 포르-살뤼에서는 수백 명의 시민이 모여 성추행 피해를 배상 하라고 목소리를 높였다.

미셸 마르텔리 아이티 대통령도 성명을 내고 이번 성추행 사건을 "강력히 비난 한다"며 이는 "국민 정서에 반하는 행위"라고 말했다.

이번 성추문은 우루과이 평화유지군 몇 명이 매트리스 위에 엎드린 피해자 소년을 꼼짝 못하게 붙잡고서는 바지를 벗기고 웃음을 터뜨리는 동영상이 지난달 30일 공개되면서 불거졌다.

이 영상은 한 평화유지군이 아이티 청년 2명에게 음악을 내려받아 달라며 휴대 전화를 건넸고, 휴대전화에서 문제의 동영상을 발견한 청년들이 이를 지역 언론사에 넘기면서 세상에 공개된 것으로 알려졌다. 

우루과이 해군의 세르히오 비케 대변인은 유엔이 진행한 사전 조사에서 소년이 성추행을 당했다는 증거가 발견되지 않았다며 이는 "부적절한 장소에서 부적절한 시 간에 일어난 짓궂은 장난이었다"고 말했다. 

우루과이군은 평화유지군이 민간인을 부대에 들이는 등 규율을 어긴 점에 대해서는 철저히 처벌할 것이라고 덧붙였다.

또 이번 사건을 조사하고 있는 유엔 아이티 지부의 엘리안느 나바 대변인은 유엔이 아직 어떠한 결론에도 도달하지 않았다고 발표했다.  

그러나 많은 아이티인이 장-베르트랑 아리스티드 전 대통령이 축출된  2004년부 터 자국에 주둔해온 유엔군을 점령군으로 인식하는 상황에서, 유엔군은 이번 성추문 으로 큰 타격을 입게 됐다.

특히 지난해 5천여 명의 목숨을 앗아간 콜레라가 네팔 평화유지군에 의해  유입 됐다는 주장마저 제기되면서 유엔군에 대한 민심은 악화일로를 걷는 상황이었다.

현재 아이티에는 1만2천명의 유엔 평화유지군이 주둔하고 있으며 이중 우루과이군은 900명이다.

마르텔리 대통령은 1995년 인권침해 문제로 해체된 아이티군을 되살린다는 공약으로 지난 5월 대통령에 당선됐으며, 유엔이 아이티 내군 인력을 줄이고 치안유지 보다는 개발사업에 집중해야 한다고 주장해왔다.

유엔군은 그간 콩고와 캄보디아, 코트디부아르 등지에서도 미성년자와 성매매를 한 사실이 드러나 논란을 불러일으킨 적이 있으며, 특히 2007년에는 코트디부아르에 주둔했던 모로코 평화유지군 730명에 대해 성범죄와 관련, 임무가 정지되기도 했다. (연합뉴스)