By Sarah Lafen
Impunity Watch Desk Reporter, North America

 

Port-au-Prince, HAITI — Over 100 U.N. Peacekeepers stationed in Haiti are implicated in a child sex ring.  According to an investigation which focused on the presence of the Peacekeepers across the world over the past 12 years, over 2,000 allegations of sexual abuse by Peacekeepers were reported.  From 2004 to 2007 in Haiti, over 134 Sri Lankan Peacekeepers exploited an average of nine children per day.  While 144 Peacekeepers were sent home after an internal U.N. report on the abuse, none have been sent to jail.

One teenage Haitian boy said he was gang-raped in 2011 by Uruguayan Peacekeepers who filmed the assault on a cell phone.  The report also revealed that dozens of Haitian women were also raped, while dozens of others engaged in “survival sex” with the Peacekeepers.  One victim girl told U.N. investigators that from ages 12-15 she had sex with about 50 Peacekeepers, including a “Commandant” who paid her 75 cents.

Haitian lawyer Mario Joseph is working towards getting compensation for victims of a cholera outbreak, which has been linked to Nepalese Peacekeepers, that killed an estimated 10,000 people.  Joseph is also trying to get child support for a dozen Haitian women who were impregnated by   Peacekeepers.  Joseph asked people to “Imagine if the U.N. was going to the United States and raping children and bringing cholera,” noting that “[h]uman rights aren’t just for rich white people.”

U.S. Senator Bob Corker agreed with Joseph, and recalled his own disgust at the hearing of the U.N. sexual abuse cases uncovered last year in Africa.  Corker commented that “If [he] heard that a U.N. peacekeeping mission was coming near [his] home in Chattanooga, [he would] be on the first plane out of here to go back and protect [his] family.”

This past March, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced several new measures to help combat sexual abuse by Peacekeepers.  However, the report had little impact and never materialized.

This sex-ring scandal comes on the heels of the April 13th vote by the U.N. Security Council to end the Peacekeeping mission in Haiti.  On the same day, Nikki Haley, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., mentioned the scandal in her remarks to the U.N.  Haley asked “[w]hat do we say to these kids? Did these peacekeepers keep them safe?”

The U.N. has no jurisdiction over Peacekeepers, which means the countries who provide the troops are left responsible for their punishment.

 

For more information, please see:

Telesur — UN Peacekeepers Gave Haitian Kids Snacks to be Part of Sex Ring — 15 April 2017

Foreign Policy — U.N. Peacekeepers Ran a Child Sex Ring in Haiti — 14 April 2017

Independent — UN Peacekeepers in Haiti Implicated in Child Sex Ring — 14 April 2017

Associated Press — AP Exclusive: UN Child Sex Ring Left Victims but no Arrests –12 April 2017

 

By Sarah Lafen
Impunity Watch Desk Reporter, North America

WASHINGTON D.C., United States — An Airbnb host in California was banned from the company after cancelling a guest’s reservation at the last minute based on the guest’s race.  Dyne Suh, a 25-year old law student at the University of California, Los Angeles, recently posted pictures to her Facebook account earlier this week that showed a message conversation with an Airbnb host who refused to rent to her because of she was Asian.

Suh and her fiancé booked an Airbnb residence in Big Bear Lake, California for February 2017.  After conversing with the host about adding two additional guests, Suh messaged the host to inform her that the group was close to the residence when the host started “spewing racism.”

One message from the host read “I wouldn’t rent to u if u were the last person on earth,” and another “One word says it all: Asian.”  Suh told the host that she would report the comments to Airbnb, and the host responded “It’s why we have Trump.”  The host also said that she would “not allow this country to be told what to do by foreigners.”

Suh has participated in anti-Trump events in the past, however asserts that this incident was unprovoked.  She said that for her to “now have someone say something racist to [her] and say it’s because of Trump, it was [her] fears coming true.”  Suh believes that people who previously held these beliefs now feel “emboldened” to speak them.  She commented that “[n]o matter how well [she] treat[s] others, if you’re Asian you’re less than human, and people can treat you like trash.”

A spokesperson for Airbnb told reporters that the host has been permanently removed from the company.  Airbnb also wrote in an email that “[that] behavior is abhorrent and unacceptable.”  Last year, Airbnb conducted a comprehensive review of the company and found that “minorities struggle more than others to book a listing.”  This finding caused the company to implement a new policy which requires all hosts to treat all guests “with respect.”  The new policy explains that “no matter who you are, where you are from, or where you travel, you should be able to belong in the Airbnb community.”

 

For more information, please see:

Fortune — Airbnb Banned a Host who Reportedly Cancelled a Guest’s Reservation over her Race — 8 April 2017

NY Daily News — California Airbnb Host Banned for Naming President Trump as Reason to Refuse Asian-American Guest — 8 April 2017

The Telegraph News — Airbnb Host Cancels Asian Woman’s Reservation at the Last Minute, Telling her: ‘It’s Why we Have Trump’ — 8 April 2017

KTLA — Riverside Woman Denied Lodging on Airbnb During Big Bear Snow Storm Because of her Race — 7 April 2017