MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uruguayan marines in Haiti involved in ‘misconduct’; no evidence of sexual abuse

Defense minister Eleuterio Fernandez Huidobro informed Parliament on three independent reports

Three independent investigations in Haiti following the claim of an alleged sexual abuse against a local by five Uruguayan marines from the UN peacekeeping force coincide in that there was “misconduct” of the involved, but no crime was committed.

That is the result to which independent investigations from the United Nations, the Uruguayan Navy and the Uruguayan Ministry of Defense reached, and was informed to the Uruguayan Parliament Defense Commission by Gabriela González, head of the Ministry of Defense Social Services.

At the hearing Defense Minister Eleuterio Fernandez Huidobro was also present.

“Based on the evidence from the (cellular phone) video the possible intention of sexual abuse is discarded since the local ‘victim’ remains dressed and one of the marines although shirtless does have his camouflage shorts on with no exposure of his intimate parts” reads the UN report.

However the marines are guilty of “misconduct” for having been involved in actions which are not in accordance with the UN mission’s instructions.

The military said they appealed to the same “offensive language used by the local against their families”, points out the report based on their testimonies, who also admit they wanted to teach the 18 year old Haitian “a lesson”.

The Uruguayan navy report describes the action of the marines as “a kidding action” since there was a relation of “vicinity and certain friendship” with the members of the team filmed in the cellular phone.

“The incident did not involve sexual acts or any kind of aberration” concludes the investigation adding that it is a violation of the “Uruguayan Navy and United Nations code of conduct”

The report adds that when UN investigators (Guatemalan officers) visited the Haitian presumably raped at his home, he was ‘fine’ and he “never visited the local hospital for any pain or injury”. The report adds that when an interview was agreed with the alleged victim to question him, the journalist who revealed the video was present.

“The members of the UN Police concluded their actions saying no crime had been committed”, underlines the Uruguayan Navy investigation.

The Uruguayan Ministry of Defence underlines that there are “no indications of sexual abuse”, however “there was the use of force with the purpose of ‘a kidding action’”.

“The relation with the Haitian, following the incident, continued to be normal and unaffected until the release of the video became notorious”. Furthermore there were irregularities committed by the “military guards” and it is not clear who introduced the Haitian to the base.

The Uruguayan Ministry of Defence reports emphasizes “there was misconduct contrary to the ethical and moral procedure of the Navy” and recommends the marines be immediately returned to Uruguay.

Following the hearing Minister Fernandez Huidobro said that describing the incident as “a kidding action”, strongly ‘demerits’ the Uruguayan Navy and Ministry of Defence investigations.

When the video was first released an immediate reaction from the Uruguayan government and President Jose Mujica was to send a letter of apology to Haitian President Michel Martelly.

The Haitian president also strongly condemned the alleged sexual assault but did not join some of his countrymen in demanding an immediate pullout of UN peacekeeping forces.

Martelly however has called for more economic development work by the UN mission following last year's earthquake, but he also asked peacekeepers to quash gangs in Port-au-Prince slums that have been strongholds for his political opponents. The force also helps bolster Haiti's weak economy by spending, from buying snacks on the streets to dining at high-end restaurants in the capital.

Peacekeepers arrived in 2004 to help control the chaos that followed the ouster of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Since then, the UN force has been instrumental in maintaining stability in the coup-prone country, and it has helped allow a democratically elected president serve two full terms for the first time in Haitian history.

But some Haitians see the UN troops as an occupying force that has done little to ameliorate the country's misery. In 2007, almost a tenth of its Sri Lankan battalion was recalled because of a sex-abuse scandal. Last year, a contingent from Nepal was blamed for introducing cholera to Haiti, which caused an outbreak that has killed more than 6,200 people and sickened 439,000, according to Haiti's health ministry.

In another incident one of the several Brazilian generals commanding the Minustah (UN stabilization mission in Haiti) 12.000 strong force committed suicide. The conclusions of the investigation remained limited to UN and the Brazilian command since it’s the country in charge of the operation