Tough action on culprits - military spokesman

Haiti peacekeepers' sex scandal

by Shanika Sriyananda

The Sri Lanka Army is awaiting the detailed report from the UN to take tough disciplinary action against Lankan peacekeepers. These who were allegedly accused of a sex scandal in Haiti.

Out of 950 Lankan peacekeepers, 108 soldiers were embroiled in the alleged sex scandal, where the offence is yet to be clearly defined. However according to the UN, the charges levelled against them were 'sexual exploitation'.

When contacted the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said: "We do not know the nature of the offence and we have to wait until the UN submits the full report to get the final conclusion. A senior Sri Lankan Military Police officer in Haiti is now assisting the UN investigators," he said.

A four member local military team who had flown to Haiti has already submitted its preliminary investigation report to the SLA. The UN Office of Internal Oversight Services had sought the assistance of the local team, to carry out the investigation.

The UN statement stated that "The UN and Sri Lanka take this matter very seriously and reiterated their shared commitment to both the Secretary General's zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse and to the best practice in peacekeeping."

Brigadier Nanayakkara said that the UN had appreciated the prompt actions taken by the governments to appoint an investigation team with high ranking military officials to probe the scandal.

In a statement, the UN spokeswoman Michele Montas, who had stated that the accused peacekeepers would be repatriated on disciplinary grounds, he said that some of the Haitian women were involved in the sex for money were minors.

However, the UN has recommended in 1995 to punish the erring soldiers, and freeze their salaries to form a fund to assist the victims. There are over 100,000 peacekeeping troops in Haiti from UN member states. Over 800 peacekeepers have been suspended with series of sexual abuse charges. In recent years, peacekeepers in Liberia, Congo and Ivory Coast were among the soldiers accused for sexual exploitation.

Brigadier Nanayakkara said that they were going to be prosecuted in Sri Lanka and the SLA would take disciplinary action against them.

Meanwhile, another team of Lankan soldiers would fly to Haiti to replace with the team once the accused peacekeepers return home.