This is the main recommendation of the UN Secretary General at the end of this meeting of the Security Council on Thursday, June 16 at UN headquarters in New York. Indeed, the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres pleads for a 12-month extension of the mandate of the UN integrated office in Haiti.
This recommendation came after the participants in this meeting presented in turn their concerns about the political, security and social situation in the country.
Addressing the Security Council to provide an update on the situation in the country, the representative of the Secretary General, Helen La Lime said that the pronounced instability in Haiti is largely due to its prolonged institutional vacuum, coupled with the grip of gangs on much of the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area.
In May alone, the Haitian National Police (PNH) recorded 201 intentional homicides and 198 kidnappings, an average of 7 cases per day, she warned. However, the HNP lacks human, material and financial resources and its limited operational and logistical capacity compromises the implementation of a comprehensive program of public security, reads a statement of the council consulted by Zoom Haiti News.
It pleads for ”greater support to the country’s national police, warning of the rapid deterioration of security at a time when the dialogue on the future governance arrangements of the country remain in a prolonged stalemate”.
For his part, the Haitian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean Victor Généus praised the efforts of the authorities to thwart the criminal activities of gangs. To get out of it, the Haitian chancellor deemed urgent that the PNH can receive “in the next few days and not in the next few weeks or months”, a sufficiently robust accompaniment from the partners of the international community.
Jean Victor Généus noted that we can not seriously consider any free, fair and democratic elections in such an environment, stressing that after the departure of international forces (MINUSTAH NDLR), local structures are unable to have the same performance, because they have not received adequate training and do not have the same means, he regrets.
A point of view shared by the representative of the Dominican Republic José Alfonso Blanco Conde who recalled that his country had warned, three years ago, against the negative consequences of a reduction of the UN mission in Haiti. According to him, today we are facing the consequences of “this disastrous decision” while calling on the international community to make its “self-criticism” in order not to repeat the same mistakes, reports the statement.
The French representative, while pleading for an end to gang violence, suggested increasing the ceiling of UNIHRO police advisers. France also advocated dialogue to break the political impasse in Haiti, welcoming the direct contacts established between the Prime Minister and the opposition. It called on the political actors to find the consensus necessary to organize elections when the conditions are right. After calling for increased humanitarian support, the representative of France called for a 12-month renewal of UNIOSIL’s mandate, with additional resources if necessary.
Brazil considered that UNIOSIL should also be mandated to support the control of illicit financial flows and have its work strengthened in the judicial and human rights areas. The U.S., for its part, pledged logistical support to ensure the country’s security.
UNIHRO should be seen as a “beacon of hope” rather than “another disappointment,” said China, which expressed concern about the escalating gang violence in Haiti. He also condemned the kidnappings of UN staff there, calling on the authorities to guarantee their safety.
Russia’s representative at the UN Security Council meeting, Dmitry A. Polyanskiy, said he was following developments in Haiti with growing concern, citing a steady deterioration over the past four months in all key issues, from the political settlement to the security to the humanitarian situation. He noted that significant differences remain among key players in government, civil society and business to overcome the political impasse.
The representative regretted that UNIHRO’s assistance in organizing informal discussions between various groups did not have a tangible effect either. He asked for more details about the Office’s mandate to help Haitians establish an internal dialogue.
Finally, he denounced the many years of external interference and the imposition of models of democratization that do not take into account the specificities of the countries,” according to a report of the meeting.
It should be noted that the evaluation of the UNIHRO mandate was carried out by the independent expert Mourad Wahba, at the request of the Security Council. In his report, “the independent expert concluded that Haiti was going through one of the most difficult periods in its history, and that the root causes of instability in the country required, above all, political solutions, and that a UN special political mission remained the most appropriate and effective structure to address the main challenges,” reads the report of Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
According to the expert’s observations, Binuh should help strengthen support to the police in containing gang violence, and improve its outreach to all sectors of society, including communities living in gang-controlled areas.
While the Security Council is proposing a renewal of its mandate, the UN Integrated Office in Haiti is under fire for having welcomed the G9 federation of armed gangs, which, according to a report by the Secretary General, had reduced the number of intentional killings by 12 per cent between June 1 and August 31.
BINUH is also criticized for its unwavering support for de facto Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who is not able to solve the phenomenon of armed gangs and facilitate political stability, among other things.
It should be noted that several demonstrations and sit-ins were organized in front of several embassies and in front of the headquarters of BINUH to call on the Security Council not to extend the mandate of the mission, whose head, Helen La Lime, is highly criticized for her role, which is considered to be partisan in favor of the team in power.