The media watch group FAIR (Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting) has noted a story that has gone virtually under the radar in the US mainstream media. It is one that turned my stomach and greatly disgusted me.
According to FAIR,
An 800-page independent report commissioned by the US-friendly Colombian government and the radical left rebel group FARC found that US military soldiers and contractors had sexually abused at least 54 children in Colombia between 2003 and 2007 and, in all cases, the rapists were never punished–either in Colombia or stateside–due to American military personnel being immune from prosecution under diplomatic immunity agreements between the two countries. […]
[FAIR quoting the Columbian newspaper El Tiempo] One case that has called most attention in Colombian media was that of a 12-year-old who in 2007 was raped by a US Army sergeant and a former US military officer who was working in Melgar as a military contractor.
Colombian prosecutors established that the girl had been drugged and subsequently raped inside the military base by US sergeant Michael J. Coen and defense contractor Cesar Ruiz.
However, prosecution officials were not allowed to arrest the suspected child rapists who were subsequently flown out of the country.
As I’ve noted before, Status of Forces Agreements are horribly one-sided and allow members of the military virtual immunity for illegal and immoral actions committed in “host” countries. This is yet another horrible example. When are countries going to learn not to sign such stupid agreements?
This is gruesome, yet something I think needs much wider press. Why the silence? Anyone who reads this, please repost this important news wherever you can.
