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Haiti Victims Claim To Have Been Unfairly Treated –
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Haiti Victims Claim to Have Been Unfairly Treated – LAST WEEK'S REPATRIATION of a group of Sri Lankan soldiers deployed in Haiti under UN Command for buying sexual services from sex workers including so Haiti Victims Claim to Have Been Unfairly Treated – "The Island" http://www.army.lk/morenewsfet.php?id=2932 2007-11-13 02:24:32 LAST WEEK'S REPATRIATION of a group of Sri Lankan soldiers deployed in Haiti under UN Command for buying sexual services from sex workers including some who might be underage has taken a new turn with some of the soldiers alleging a conspiracy to tarnish the image of the country. One of the angry soldiers now back home from Haiti said that free condoms are issued to the troops deployed on the peace keeping mission and asked why such issues were made if the men were expected to remain celibate. ``Condoms enabling safe sex were taken from here when the deployment was made,'' he said. ``They are available in boxes in the camps for soldiers to help themselves. This is the practice not only where our troops were concerned but also for men of other nationalities. The UN was well aware of the practice.'' They also accused the government of failing to conduct a proper inquiry thereby facilitating what an officer called the ``disgraceful repatriation'' of a tenth of the 950-man strong contingent. The sex scandal broke out hot on the heels of Sri Lankan troops drove Roody, a notorious gangster who ran the show in the Matisan area, to commit suicide. "Our troops cornered him and were about to grab him when he shot himself dead. We also captured his second-in-command. In fact, we have done so much to restore law and order in areas in our control and have received plaudits from many people in the area." The Sri Lankan Infantry contributed 750 personnel to the contingent while the rest includes 50 each from the Air Force and Navy and 100 soldiers from support services. A total of 110 personnel- 99 from the army, ten from the Air Force and one member of the SLN - had been repatriated along with the Commanding Officer, his second-in-command and three officers holding the rank of Major for negligence. The repatriated army contingent represented the country's oldest fighting regiment, the Ceylon Light Infantry now on its second tour of the Caribbean. It replaced the Vijayaba Infantry Regiment (VIR) four months ago. ``Had the Lankan authorities carried out a thorough investigation, the country and the men would not have been humiliated,'' a furious officer said, asserting the so-called investigation conducted under the UN aegis was inadequate. "They didn't even conduct an identification parade," another officer said. According to him the disgraced officers and men had been picked from the individual photographs of the contingent made available to the investigators. "They may have shown our photographs to prostitutes all over the place and they may have identified some of them as their customers," the officer said. ``But is that acceptable proof?'' According to the repatriated personnel they first heard of an inquiry last September. There had been talk of Sri Lankan personnel deployed in the general area of Matisan making a teenage girl pregnant. At the time she had been seen by UN medical personnel, she had been almost six months pregnant, he said. She pointed her finger at the Sri Lankan contingent and interested parties took advantage of her claim to target it. In the first place, the army contingent deployed at Matisan had come there four months ago and none of them could have made this girl pregnant two months before their arrival in Haiti, one source said. "We would like to know whether this girl really claimed that she had sex with 110 Sri Lankan personnel? Let me emphasis one critical point. Among the repatriated personnel are some who haven't gone out of their base after arriving in Haiti. They couldn't have had sex with this girl or anyone else." ``The government must call for a thorough investigation to establish the truth,'' an affected soldier said. "Check on the nationality of the doctor who found the teenage girl." He said the government has been too hasty in admitting guilt. A four-man army team consisting of two Brigadiers (including a woman officer of the Medical Corps) and two Colonels visited Haiti from October 6 to 10 where they investigated the allegations. Following the repatriation of the 110 men back home, Sri Lanka reiterated its continuing commitment to its first major overseas mission, assuring that the troops earmarked for future deployment would be especially educated on the aspect of the problem encountered. The Haiti mission from many countries, comprise over 7,000 soldiers, officers and police. It was deployed amidst chaos following the 2004 ouster of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and has brought a significant degree of stability to the country. The JVP which vehemently opposed the deployment under UN Command last week claimed of what a spokesman categorized as an UN-NGO plot to ridicule Sri Lankan forces. The code of conduct prevents U.N . personnel from soliciting services of prostitutes, even if prostitution is legal in a country, and it sets the age of consensual sex at 18. Deployment in Haiti is highly coveted by both officers and men of the regular army as benefits are substantial. Each soldier irrespective of his rank is paid USD 1,028 (approximately Rs 128,000) a month. "Just calculate the amount 950 men have been sending back to their families in Sri Lanka. On top of that, all equipment ranging from assault rifles to armoured personnel carriers deployed in Haiti are rented by the UN," they said. Due to the repatriation of 110 personnel, an equal number of personnel who were scheduled to return after completing their six-month tour have been asked to continue. The CLI was to complete its second tour in two months. (Courtesy: Sunday Island) » Be the first to comment » Email Story
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