ARTICLE - VICTIM - URUGUAY NEVER CONTACTED

VICTIM OF UN PEACEKEEPER ABUSE SAYS URUGUAY NEVER CONTACTED HIM
(Defend Haiti) -

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay — A Supreme Court official promised Wednesday that Uruguay’s justice system will reach out to a young Haitian man who has accused six U.N. peacekeepers from Uruguay of sexually abusing him.

Justice officials said earlier that they had been unable to obtain the man’s testimony and that charges might have to be dropped as a result.

But The Associated Press called the 19-year-old’s cellphone and found him in Haiti’s capital. He said Monday night that no one had ever asked him to testify.

“They know where to find me ... if they take me, I will go,” he said.

Supreme Court minister Jorge Chediak noted the man’s comments in an interview with Channel 10 television and said the courts would act once their January vacation ends.

“Now that we know he is apparently interested in testifying, he will surely be found, and surely after the recess ends the competent authorities will take the steps needed to have a videoconference,” he said.

The Haitian man told AP on Wednesday night that he hadn’t been contacted by his attorney or other authorities since the AP’s report two days earlier. Continued