Haitian president condemns UN over alleged sex attack by troops-Added COMMENTARY By Haitian-Truth

A UN vehicle on patrol in Haiti. The peacekeeping mission arrived in the country in 2004. Photograph: Ariana Cubillos/AP

Associated Press-Guardian UK: Michel Martelly awaiting report detailing claims that five Uruguayan naval troops molested 18-year-old man at UN base.

The Haitian president, Michel Martelly, has condemned the actions of the UN after allegations that its troops sexually assaulted an 18-year-old man.

The president’s communications office said Martelly was awaiting a detailed report about the alleged incident, and had asked officials to meet UN representatives with a view to preventing “such acts” from happening.

The UN is investigating claims that five Uruguayan naval troops sexually molested the 18-year-old at a base in Port Salut, southern Haiti.

Cameraphone footage shows several men in camouflaged uniforms laughing as they pin down a young man on a mattress. The men seem to be saying “no problem” in Spanish as they hold the teenager’s arms and hands behind his back. It is not clear from the video what happens next.

The UN mission learned of the charges last week, and the scandal prompted Uruguay to sack its naval chief in Haiti. The soldiers were confined to their barracks pending the outcome of an inquiry.

A magistrate in Port Salut has gathered testimony from the alleged victim and his mother and filed it in court. Some local residents planned to demonstrate against the UN on Monday morning and call for the withdrawal of the peacekeepers.

The UN peacekeeping mission arrived in Haiti in 2004 after the former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide was toppled in a violent rebellion.

Relations between the troops and many Haitians have been strained, with critics accusing the force of using heavy-handed tactics.

Tensions worsened after a unit of peacekeepers from Nepal was blamed by many people for an outbreak of cholera in Haiti last year. The epidemic has killed more than 6,200 people and made more than 438,000 ill, according to Haiti’s health ministry.

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COMMENT: HAITIAN-TRUTH.ORG

Not a very dynamic comment by President Martelly, to say the least.

There is no outrage here….no strong statement on behalf of his people….no demand for justice…just a subservient comment by the president of an occupied nation.

Haiti’s poor, abused 9,000,000 citizens deserve better

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