Rapes used as a weapon of terror, snipers on roofs, people burned alive, kidnappings for ransoms… In Haiti, the violence of the gangs which control the majority of the capital Port-au-Prince continues to worsen. For almost a year to the day, Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres have been calling for a police support mission. On Monday, the Security Council satisfied them with the dispatch of a multinational force led by Kenya.
This vote “is a glimmer of hope for the people who have suffered for too long the consequences of a difficult political, socio-economic, security and humanitarian situation,” immediately greeted the Haitian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean Victor Généus, present in the council room.
A very hesitant international community
However, the game was not won in advance. Within an international community burned by past experiences in the country and the risks of finding itself trapped in a deadly quagmire, it was difficult to find a volunteer to take the lead in this mission. Until the end of July when Kenya finally announced that it was ready to lead this non-UN force and deploy 1,000 men. The other participants in the mission now remain to be specified.
The resolution adopted by 13 votes in favor and 2 abstentions (China and Russia) therefore validates this mission for “an initial period of twelve months”, with a re-evaluation after nine. It aims to “provide operational support to the Haitian police” and improve security sufficiently to organize elections, although no elections have taken place since 2016.
In cooperation with the Haitian authorities, the mission will be able, to save lives, to employ temporary and proportionate “emergency measures” “on an exceptional basis”, in particular through arrests, in compliance with international law.
The expanded arms embargo
China, which has a right of veto in the Council, was on the other hand less enthusiastic. “Without a legitimate, effective and accountable government, any external support can hardly have lasting effects,” warned its ambassador Zhang Jun. Under its pressure, the resolution also generalizes the embargo on small arms and ammunition, until now only applicable to gang leaders targeted by the sanctions regime put in place in October 2022 and which at this stage only concerns an individual.
In a recent report, Antonio Guterres underlined that the economic, political and security crisis that Haiti is going through has further worsened over the past year, with gangs “more numerous and better armed” than the approximately 14,000 police officers counted at the end of June 2023. In total , nearly 2,800 murders were counted between October 2022 and June 2023, including nearly 80 minors, according to this report.