US says countries must punish UN troops for sexual abuse

FILE - This Monday, July 11, 2011 file photo shows silhouettes of U.N. peacekeepers from Brazil at the airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. According to an AP investigation, some 150 allegations of abuse and exploitation were reported in Haiti between 2004 and 2016. The allegations involved U.N. peacekeepers and other personnel. Alleged victimizers came from Bangladesh, Brazil, Jordan, Nigeria, Pakistan, Uruguay and Sri Lanka, according to U.N. data and interviews. More countries may have been involved, but the United Nations only started disclosing alleged perpetrators’ nationalities after 2015. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo) (The Associated Press)

UNITED NATIONS – U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley is urging all countries that send troops to U.N. peacekeeping mission to hold soldiers accountable for sexual abuse and exploitation, an appeal that came after she cited an Associated Press investigation into a child sex ring in Haiti involving Sri Lankan peacekeepers.

Haley also warned that "countries that refuse to hold their soldiers accountable must recognize that this either stops or their troops will go home and their financial compensation will end."

Former U.N. secretary-general Ban Ki-moon recommended that U.N. peacekeepers accused of sexual abuse and exploitation be court martialed in countries where the alleged incidents took place. He said the U.N. would withhold payments to peacekeepers facing credible allegations.

Haley spoke after the U.N. voted to end the peacekeeping mission in Haiti in mid-October.