The UN Security Council on Monday, October 2, gave the green light to send a Kenyan-led multinational force to Haiti to help police overwhelmed by gangs, a one-year mission requested by Port-au-Prince.
Published on: 02/10/2023 – 10:23 p.m
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According to the resolution adopted on Monday after difficult negotiations with 13 votes in favor and 2 abstentions (China and Russia), this non-UN “multinational security assistance mission” will be established for “an initial period of twelve months”, with a reassessment after nine months.
The aim is to “provide operational support to the Haitian police” in their fight against gangs and for the security of schools, ports, hospitals and airports. With the aim of improving security sufficiently to be able to organize elections, although no elections have taken place since 2016.
Working with the Haitian authorities, the mission will be able to take temporary and proportionate “emergency measures” “in exceptional cases” “to prevent the loss of life,” in particular through arrests, in accordance with international law.
In addition, the resolution generalizes the small arms and ammunition embargo against Haiti, which until then only applied to gang leaders subject to the sanctions regime imposed in October 2022, and which does not affect just one individual at this point.
The resolution does not specify the composition of the mission, but notes that the operational plan and the number of personnel of future participants will be developed jointly with the Haitian government. However, the figure of 2,000 police officers has been mentioned frequently in recent months.
It is more than a simple vote, it is rather an expression of solidarity with a people in need. The vote on this text represents a significant step forward in resolving the multidimensional crisis that Haiti is currently experiencing. It’s a glimmer of hope.
Jean Victor Généus, Foreign Minister of Haiti
Jelena Tomic
In a recent report, Antonio Guterres emphasized that the economic, political and security crisis that Haiti is going through has worsened over the past year and that the gangs are “more numerous and better armed” than the approximately 14,000 police officers counted in total at the end of June According to this report, almost 2,800 murders were counted between October 2022 and June 2023, including almost 80 minors.
Kenya at the head of the international force
The UN Secretary General and Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry have been calling for an operation to support the police for almost a year. But in an international community burned by the country’s past experiences and the threat of being trapped in a deadly quagmire, it was difficult to find a volunteer to take the lead. Until late July last year, Kenya finally announced that it was ready to lead this non-UN force and deploy 1,000 troops to the poor Caribbean country.
“Once the Security Council decision is made, Kenya will be ready,” Kenyan Defense Minister Aden Duale said last week. He spoke at the signing of a defense agreement with the United States. On that day, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, visiting Nairobi, pledged around $100 million to support the Kenyan intervention in Haiti, our correspondent in Nairobi recalls. Gaëlle Laleix.
“Money that doesn’t even go to the police while they are sent to Haiti to do the dirty work of the United States and France,” writes Ekuru Augot, a former 2017 presidential candidate, in a column published Thursday in The Star became.
This diplomacy is being discussed in the country. Some, like Ekuru Augot, believe this deployment is unconstitutional. Others believe Kenya will not emerge any better. “Our police officers have a serious history of human rights violations and corruption,” says Martin Mavenjina of the Kenya Human Rights Commission. According to the Foreign Ministry, Kenyan police officers can be deployed to Haiti in January at the latest.
Also read: Stationing an international force in Haiti: What the resolution submitted to the United Nations for a vote provides