UN Pakistani troops convicted in Haiti trial

It was the first time troops from the  peacekeeping mission have been tried and sentenced within Haiti [Al Jazeera]

Two United Nations peacekeepers in Haiti have been sentenced to a year in prison with hard labour after a trial found them guilty of sexual abuse and exploitation, a UN spokeswoman has said.

Sylvie Van Den Wildenberg said on Tuesday that the UN was informed last week that two Pakistani police officers were convicted by a Pakistani military court in the Haitian port city of Gonaives and were discharged. No UN personnel or Haitian officials were present for the trial, she said.

It was the first time that troops from the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti, known by its French acronymn of Minustah, have been tried and sentenced within the country.

UN authorities also were told that Pakistan intends to compensate the victims but has not determined the amount, Van Den Wildenberg said.

She added that Pakistan withdrew its 150 members of the UN peacekeeping mission on Friday. It was not clear if Pakistan planned to replace the unit.

The case involving the members of a police unit in Gonaives began in January, along with a separate case concerning UN police officers in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince. The troops were removed from duty pending the outcome of the investigations. UN officials did not release the nationality of these troops.

The trial came just months after six Uruguayan troops with the UN peacekeeping force in Haiti were accused of abusing a young Haitian man. The case was referred to the Uruguayan judicial system.

The cases have done little to improve relations between the UN and some Haitians who view the mission as an occupying force.

Tensions between the world body and Haiti were exacerbated after a peacekeeping unit from Nepal was blamed for introducing cholera to the Caribbean nation in the months following the January 2010 earthquake. The outbreak has killed more than 7,000 people and sickened more than 526,000 others, Haitian health officials say.

The cholera outbreak prompted a Haitian law firm and its international partner to file a complaint against the UN last year on behalf of the victims, which is under review by its legal office. 

The case could prove tricky because UN personnel are granted immunity under a status of forces agreement signed between the UN and Haiti.