Release of MINUSTAH Peacekeepers Filmed Raping Haitian Youth is Latest Outrageous Incident of Peacekeeper Impunity

From Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti (IJDH), Contact:

Brian Concannon, Jr., Esq., Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti, brian@ijdh.org, +1-541-263-0029 (English, French, Creole)

Mario Joseph, Av., Bureau des Avocats Internationaux, (in Haiti), mario@ijdh.org, +509-3701-9878 (French, Creole, English)

Maria-Elena Kolovos, Bureau des Avocats Internationaux (in Haiti), mariaelena@ijdh.org, +509-4688-9968 (English)

 

Release of MINUSTAH Peacekeepers Filmed Raping Haitian Youth is Latest Outrageous Incident of Peacekeeper Impunity

 

Monday, January 9, 2012, Boston and Port-au-Prince- Human rights lawyers representing the victims of the United Nations cholera epidemic in Haiti expressed their outrage that the UN Peacekeepers caught on tape raping a Haitian teenager last summer were freed. They called on MINUSTAH, the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti, to waive the immunity that enables regular acts of rape, torture and even murder by MINUSTAH troops, and to allow an independent mechanism to evaluate claims by cholera victims and others hurt by MINUSTAH malfeasance.

 

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A Year of Cholera from the United Nations

By: Etant Dupain, Bri Kouri Nouvèl Gaye                      

Nothing can replace the lives of the 6,500 people dead from a cholera epidemic that MINUSTAH (the United Nations peacekeepers) brought to Haiti. More than 400,000 have already been infected while 600,000 people are still living in displacement camps without access to services for their basic needs, such as sanitation and potable water.

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A Tale of Eviction in Haiti

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Despite the lack of attention in the media, the situation in Haiti remains dire. Despite money donated by international organizations and regular people, real relief has not reached the people who need it the most. The blue tarps that blanketed the city, reminiscent of the early reporting by Anderson Cooper, are still there – an obvious sign that things have not returned to normal.

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Why We Shouldn't Support Plan for New Army in Haiti

Last week, a proposal from Haiti’s President Michel Martelly to create a new Haitian army was breaking news. Haitians have been talking about the possibility of the former Haitian army, known by its French acronym as the FAd’H, being reconstituted since it was disbanded in 1994. In recent years, proponents for the reconstitution of the army have used the ongoing presence of foreign soldiers in the UN peacekeeping mission (known by its acronym, MINUSTAH) as one of the reasons to bring back a national military force.

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Rep. Payne to Haiti: "Continued Evictions Must Cease"

I am appalled to hear of the continued forced evictions of displaced people in Haiti. It is even more disappointing to see that this is being led by leaders in local government who should be working to alleviate the hardships of those already suffering.  I strongly condemn the actions of Mayor Jean-Yves Jason for forcefully evicting displaced Haitians from an Internally Displaced Person (IDP) Camp in the parking lot of the Sylvio Cator Soccer Stadium on Friday, July 15. On the spot, the 514 families were unfairly made to choose between leaving the camp for a small sum of $250 USD or be forced out of the camps.

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