Report on MINUSTAH

La Tercera, Saturday, January 11

Dear Director,

In addition to General Aldunate’s letter, I find it appropriate to mention that in the reading of the report by Sabine Lee and Susan Bartels, Chile is only mentioned in the lists of countries that contributed troops, police, and civilians to the United Nations mission in Haiti. There is no specific mention of Chile in the 265 cases indicated in the report.

The conclusions reached by the press are the result of cross-referencing the reported cases in Cap Haitien with the fact that this location was the main site where Chilean forces were stationed, although they were not the only ones, as there were non-Chilean police present from the beginning, and a few years later, Ecuadorian military personnel were added.

The report has no legal validity. It is an academic study that employs approved methods for this type of analysis but does not identify names. There are 2,191 interviews covering 2,541 stories, which yield 265 cases of pregnancies. Seventy-one percent of the interviewees were men, and what Lee and Bartels do is collect the stories and what those circulating stories say about the issue. However, I insist that it is not something that can be used legally, and at most, if what they have gathered is correct, and let us assume it may be, it indicates that the issue should be reviewed and investigated to determine if it actually occurred, and if so, to see what measures should be taken.

Unfortunately, the report has not been read in detail by many who are now demanding justice, and it would benefit them to do so, as they will realize that what they are asking for is not so simple.

Richard Kouyoumdjian Inglis
Vice President of AthenaLab