Uruguay’s Mujica Apologizes For U.N. Sexual Assault In Haiti

September 8, 2011 By Staff

Today in Latin America

Top Story — Uruguayan President José Mujica apologized for the “outrage” caused by United Nation’s peacekeepers accused of sexually assaulting an 18-year-old Haitian man and said that there would be penalties for anyone found guilty. A cellphone video shows Uruguayan soldiers in the Haitian port town of Port-Salut allegedly sexually assaulting the man on a military base. Uruguayan Defense Minister Eleuterio Fernández Huidobro said that the incident had caused “a lot of damage” and added that the five accused peacekeepers have been sent home this week. Uruguay has also fired a navy commander with the U.N. mission in Haiti over the incident. “I come at this terrible time to offer you and the dear and heroic people of Haiti my apologies for the outrage that some soldiers of my country committed,” Mujica said. “I share your sadness, which I feel as my own.”

Read more from Reuters. For background on the incident, see the video from Al Jazeera below.

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Image: Presidencia de la República del Ecuador @ Flickr.

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