Human Rights group wants U.N. accountable after abuse goes unpunished

Human Rights groups from Haiti want to hold the United Nations more accountable after a Canadian Police officer fled the country after allegedly sexually assaulting a Haitian woman last February.

According to CBC News, the man was among 80 other Canadian officers working for the UN Stabilisation Mission in Haiti.

Marie Rosy Kesner Auguste Ducena, a lawyer with the Haitian National Human Rights Defence Network, says the officer probably won’t be charged despite the fact that the alleged victim reported the incident to police.

Under UN rules, civilian staff — including police officers — can’t be charged in Canada if a crime is committed abroad.

The accused travelled back to Canada one day after the alleged incident.

Authorities in Canada are carrying out an internal review.

The officer could face disciplinary measures.

In the last six years, 70 cases of sexual abuse by UN personnel in Haiti have been reported, but not one has ended up in a Haitian court.

STORY WRITTEN BY: JENNA MONNEY-LUPERT