Above: a UN Peacekeeper in Haiti earlier this year (UN Photo/Logan Abassi)
By the Caribbean Journal staff
Three members of the Pakistani Formed Police Unit of the United Nations Peacekeeping mission in Haiti have been repatriated after being found guilty by a military tribunal for the sexual abuse of a 14-year-old Haitian male.
The three members had been based in the northern Haitian city of Gonaives.
“The guilty parties will be punished, including through dishonourable discharge from service with loss of benefits and imprisonment, the latter sentence to be served immediately on return to Pakistan,” said UN spokesperson Martin Nesirky.
“The United Nations is further liaising with the Pakistani authorities to examine the formal details of the procedures and to ensure appropriate follow-up,” he said.
According to MINUSTAH, a senior Pakistani official visited Haiti last week to meet with authorities and inform them of the court martial proceeding, which was conducted in Port-au-Prince and found the peacekeepers guilty.
The UN said it had a “zero tolerance” policy towards sexual exploitation and abuse by its peacekeepers.