Uruguay calls back UN soldiers in Haiti after "rape" video surfaces

The government in Uruguay has called back five naval troops serving in a UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti after a video surfaced across the internet allegedly showing them pretending to rape a teenage boy.

Uruguay's Defense Ministry also relieved the head of the mission of his command and said it will ask prosecutors to charge the men involved in the incident.

In Haiti, public anger has grown over the video taken with a cellphone that shows Uruguayan UN troops pinning the 18-year-old down on a mattress and apparently threatening to sexually assault him. However, a few seconds into the video, the Haitian begins laughing and is helped up to his feet by the soldiers. But joke or not, the video has caused a diplomatic stir and has once again tarnished the image of the UN peacekeepers.

Haitian President Michel Martelly strongly condemned the incident. "The presidency vigorously condemns this act which revolts the nation's conscience, and awaits a detailed report establishing the exact facts and circumstances," Martelly's office said in a statement released Sunday.

The alleged victim and his mother gave testimony on Monday about the incident, which took place in June, to a Haitian judge in Port-Salut.

In Montevideo, defense officials promised to take strong action. "There are going to be severe and exemplary measures taken," armed forces commander Alberto Caramés was quoted as saying by the capital city daily La Republica .

A preliminary investigation by the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti concludes that the video was in jest but also in bad taste. Uruguay has about 1,200 UN troops in Haiti.

UN peacekeepers in Haiti have faced public anger before, notably over allegations that Nepalese UN troops brought a deadly cholera epidemic to the country after their camp latrines contaminated a local river. This sparked riots last year against the 12,000-strong UN peacekeeping contingent.