Three UN peacekeepers from Pakistan found guilty of sexual abuse in Haiti
Soldiers tied to the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) on patrol. Pakistan has sent home its 150 soldiers tied to the mission after three were found guilty of sexually abusing a 14-year-old Haitian boy.
Three United Nations peacekeepers from Pakistan have been found guilty of sexually abusing a young boy while on mission in Haiti.
According to the UN spokesman Martin Nesirky the three men are police officers, says Voice of America.
Nesirky also said that they have been sent back Pakistan, where they will be dishonorably discharged and serve a jail sentence.
Associated Press quotes another UN spokeswoman, Sylvie Van Den Wildenberg, who confirmed that the peacekeepers had been found guilty of sexual abuse and exploitation, and two of them were sentenced to a year in prison with hard labor.
She added that the men had been convicted by a Pakistani military court which had traveled to the Haitian port city of Gonaives.
No UN representatives or Haitian officials were present for the trial.
CNN International says the victim was a 14-year-old Haitian boy and that the attacked happened in January.
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It is the first time that members of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) have been tried and sentenced within Haiti, Reuters says.
The news agency says that several peacekeepers have also been accused of rape, in addition to the Pakistanis, and that the Haitian Justice Minister, Michel Brunache called the verdict for the two Pakistanis a "small" step in the right direction.
"We expected more from the UN and the Pakistani government, but now we want to focus on the proper reparation that the victim deserves," Brunache is quoted as saying.
Pakistan withdrew its 150 members of MINUSTAH on Friday, and it is not clear if they will be replaced, says Associated Press.
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