24333: (news) Chamberlain: Haiti-UN-Sex Abuse (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, Feb 22 (AP) -- The United Nations is investigating a
woman's allegations that she was raped by three U.N. peacekeepers from
Pakistan, a U.N. official said Tuesday. The men claim they paid to have
sex.
   The 23-year-old woman made the report to the police over the weekend,
said Damian Onses-Cardona, a spokesman for the 7,400-member U.N. force.
   The men, whose names were not released, said the woman was a prostitute
and they paid to have sex with her, he said.
   The latest rape allegations come as the United Nations investigates
sexual abuse allegations in a handful of countries around the world, most
notably in Congo.
   The three Pakistanis were ordered to return from northern Gonaives,
where the incident allegedly occurred, and remain in the capital of
Port-au-Prince until the investigation is concluded this week, said
Onses-Cardona, who declined to give more details.
   Calls to police in Gonaives were not immediately returned.
   U.N. peacekeepers replaced a U.S.-led force in June, four months after
demobilized soldiers led a rebellion that sent President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide into exile.
   Some 250 Pakistani police officers are stationed in Gonaives and
Port-au-Prince, where they patrol the streets and assist the 4,000-member
Haitian police.