In the Second Meeting of Foreign and Defense Ministers of the South American countries with troops in the MINUSTAH, held on September 8 in Uruguay’s capital, Montevideo, the ministers decided to gradually reduce the number of troops in Haiti. The plan is to reach the number they had in that country before the earthquake of January of 2010.

According to El Espectador radio of Uruguay, Uruguayan Foreign Minister, Luis Almagro and the representative of the UN Mission in Haiti, Mariano Fernandez, claimed the decision is not linked with the accusation of sexual abuse made against Uruguayan troops.

Brazil leads the MINUSTAH and has the largest number of troops there: 1,280, according to an IPS report. It is followed by Uruguay with 1,136. The other Latin American countries in the mission are Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay and Peru.

Last week there was social and political turmoil in Uruguay after the publication of a video showing an 18 year-old Haitian boy being raped by five Uruguayan military in the city of Port Salut, in late July. The boy lives near the barracks of the Uruguayan Navy command that is part of MINUSTAH.

The Uruguayan government’s reaction was fast. President Jose Mujica sent a letter to the Haitian president, Michel Martelly, apologizing in the name of the country. The minister of Defense, Eleuterio Fernández Huidobro said he would carry out a thorough investigation that would lead to severe sanctions and compensation to the victim if they were found guilty.

Uruguayan weekly magazine Brecha published the full name of one of the soldiers implied in the sexual abuse case and the nick names of the other three: Nicolás Casariego, Kolke, Leo and Rodríguez. Brecha based its information on a report of the National Network For Human Rights in Haiti, which after doing some investigation it claims the victim was penetrated twice by Leo and Rodríguez.

The images recorded by the military had been purportedly taken with a cell phone by the cousin of the victim. They were first made public to the young people in Port Salut and then shown to a United Nations official. In mid August the images were given to journalists and circulated in the Internet.

Tens of Uruguayan organizations have expressed their outrage after learning about the case, which is not the first accusation against Uruguayan soldiers in Haiti or in other missions. Several social groups called for demonstrations outside the Ministry of Defense in Montevideo and also urged the Parliament to vote the immediate and absolute withdrawal of the Uruguayan troops from MINSUTAH.

On September 6, the Workers’ Central Union PIT-CNT demanded the government to “make
a public apology to the people of Haiti”. In a public statement the Executive Secretariat of the worker’s union said: “for the umpteenth time, we raise our voice to demand the withdrawal of the Uruguayan and of all other troops from Haiti, to put an end to MINUSTAH, and so that the Parliament will not authorize the sending of troops and weapons where teachers, builders or nurses are needed”.

PIT-CNT supports the Uruguayan government’s decision of investigating the case and acting accordingly, and they demand “strong legal sanctions for the guilty, as in all cases of human rights abuses in Haiti”.

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