MINUSTAH sexually abuses children. Again.

[bcholmes]

UNITED NATIONS, August 17 -- In Haiti, UN peacekeepers from Uruguay are accused of having sex with children in their base, and taking nude photos of the children to show other soldiers, according to the Comité de recherches pour le développement et l’organisation de Port-salut.

These allegations were published in the Haitian press six days ago -- ironically the day that Secretary General Ban Ki-moon sent a letter to the director of The Whistleblower, about sex trafficking by UN peacekeepers in Bosnia.

This was described as Ban confronting a sordid chapter of the UN's history, but Ban has apparently not confronted alleged misdeed under his watch and responsibility. The UN in New York, in the six days after the allegations were made in Haiti, said nothing about them.

Inner City Press on August 17, the day after the UN had canceled its normal noon briefing, asked Ban's acting deputy spokesman about the allegations against the Uruguayan UN peacekeepers in Port-Salut.

Haq said, "MINUSTAH is in fact looking into this allegation, to see if there is any credibility to it. If there are any facts... we will share them."

— Inner City Press

A few years ago, around 80 members of the Sri Lankan contingent of MINUSTAH were sent home (but not charged) relating to sex charges involving children. So, it's not like they haven't had the opportunity to figure out how to investigate these cases.