Defense
Haiti: Victim of UN Peacekeeper Abuse Audio Testimony
- Thursday, December 15, 2011 2:32 PM
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (defend.ht) - The United Nations peacekeeping force in Haiti is looking into new allegations of assault and attempted homicide with three young Haitians claiming to have been beaten and left for dead by eight of its Brazilian peacekeepers.
On Thursday morning, Spokeswoman for the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), Sylvie Van Den Wildenberg, told Defend Haiti that the institution had learned of the crimes through the media and were looking to establish the facts "as soon as possible."
The victims, three young men, claim that on Tuesday evening a vehicle they were traveling in had begun making noise so they stopped on the side of the road. A group of soldiers, eight, from a Brazilian contingent of MINUSTAH arrived on the scene where the gentlemen were tending to their car.
The civilian men say they were frisked by the soldiers and told to lay stomach down on the ground and it was in these positions that the peacekeepers began to beat them.
“We were carrying water to Fort Dimanche, near Gonaives bus station. After delivering the water, we three were heading back with our car when I heard some noise coming from the engine, so I parked the car along the way to see what happened."
"Seeing there was an engine failure, we decided to wait till the morning for another car to pick us up."
"It was 3hAM. While we were waiting, some UN soldiers came along and told us to freeze and put our hands on the wall. So we did."
"After checking us, they asked us to lie down. The soldiers kicked us with their boots while we were lying on the ground."
"Then they took us into their vehicle, they trampled us down while taking us to an unknown direction."
"Then they took us to a banana plantation located on Route 9 before reaching Titanyen (Northern Port-au-Prince). At this point, the soldiers told me to remove my t-shirt and hit me with a machete. "
"After mistreating me, they took the other two guys to beat them. "
"The soldiers took off our pants. After they took everything we had on us, our telephones, our money, our papers, my driver's license, and our clothes."
"What we have, these clothes on us, it was a neighbor in the area who gave it to us."
This is the latest of a series of abuse, sexual abuse and other violations against the laws of Haiti that members of the United Nations has committed against Haitian citizens.
The President of the Republic, Michel Martelly, has not commented on the incident nor any member of the government.
On Wednesday the National Network for the Defense of Human Rights (RNDDH) denounced the United Nations peacekeepers for abusing the three young Haitians.
"RNDDH who collected the three young people condemned these acts of aggression perpetrated by soldiers of MINUSTAH, some of which have already been accused of violating the rights of Haitians in cities across the country," said Marie Yolaine Gilles, spokeswoman for the organization.
Related 09.01.2011: Criminal Complaint Filed Against UN Peacekeepers for Sexually Assaulting Young Man
Related 08.10.2011: Haitians Condemn New Disposals of MINUSTAH Feces near River in Hinche
Related 06.06.2011: Armed MINUSTAH Soldiers Break into Toussaint Louverture Airport, Shots Fired
Related 03.23.2011: Election Data Suggests MINUSTAH to Blame for Irregularities
