Pakistan UN peacekeepers jailed for Haiti sex abuse

Three Pakistani policemen in the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti have been found guilty of sexual abuse and have been jailed, the UN said Tuesday. The three police were at the center of one of two new sexual abuse investigations involving the UN police in the Caribbean nation announced in January.
UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said a court-martial had been held by the Pakistani military in Haiti and the three had been found guilty, sent to jail and repatriated.
“A senior Pakistani official visited Haiti on March 8 and 9 to meet with Haitian authorities and informed them that three individuals were found guilty of sexual exploitation and abuse through a court martial proceeding undertaken in accordance with the national laws of Pakistan,” Nesirky told a press briefing.
The three would be imprisoned and given a dishonourable discharge on their return to Pakistan, the UN mission in Haiti, MINUSTAH, was told, according to the spokesman. Details of the prison term were not immediately known.
“The guilty parties have been repatriated and the United Nations is further liaising with the Pakistani authorities to examine the formal details of the procedures and to ensure a followup,” Nesirky added. The Pakistani policemen were based at a UN camp in the city of Gonaives. The UN said in January that it was also investigating allegations against the UN police in the capital, Port-au-Prince. The details of that case have not been released.
The UN mission in Haiti has been rocked by a series of abuse scandals. Last year Uruguayan troops were accused of raping a Haitian youth after a video had been posted on the Internet.