UN Intervention in Cite Soleil

By Bryan Schaaf on Lundi, janvier 1, 2007.
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assualt According to recent reports, in the early morning on Friday, December 22nd, 400 Brazilian-led UN troops in armored vehicles carried out an intervention in Cite Soleil.

Some reports I have seen have characterized this as an assault "against the people of Cite Soleil" vice a "raid against kidnappers". Grassroots organizations are very upset. Below is an explanation of the intervention by one such organization:

"A more plausible explanation comes from grassroots activists in Cite Soleil. They argue that this is "punishment" for their ongoing protests demanding an end to the UN occupation, restoration of full democracy, return of President Aristide, and the release of political prisoners. Additionally, the people of Cite Soleil have been vigorously protesting the December 3rd municipal elections, in which there were widespread allegations of fraud and many from the popular neighborhoods were prevented from voting."

Here is the fundamental problem. The UN Force did not consider security part of their mandate initially, noting that this was the responsibility of the National Police. However, the National Police in Haiti are few in number and count many corrupt officers among their ranks. The forces did not score points with locals by standing by as security deteriorated nor by taking R+R at beaches, resorts, and hotels.

The kidnappings had such a destabilizing effect on Port-au-Prince and by extension the country, that the UN forces were leveraged to become involved in improving the security situation (read: go after the kidnappers where they are).

Not all kidnappers are based in Cite Solei, but many of them are. For those who have not seen Cite Solei, it is some of the densest, most awful housing in the hemisphere. There is an old legend that people in Cite Solei don’t sleep, as there is constant activity. This most likely stems from people sleeping in shifts as the shelters are not big enough for all occupants.

Any armed intervention in this sort of urban environment will result in many casualties. Casualties undermine the legitimacy of the UN forces. With a lack of legitimacy, it becomes increasingly difficult for the UN to operate.

On the other hand, Haitians have become increasingly fed up with the kidnappings that have paralyzed the country and placed everyone at risk. People demand action, but what sort of action?

Prèval has tried reintegration but it failed. The UN is now trying raids, which are controversial. We should keep in mind that no UN force is permanent....In Haiti's case they have come and gone again and again. Kofi Annan has admitted the futility of such an approach in a country is profoundly troubled as Haiti.

Building up Haiti's capacity for law enforcement and justice are the only long term solutions in this conflict. As corruption has been the norm, Haiti will need the support of the international community to build that capacity in an accountable and transparent way. We hope doing so will reduce the need for UN interventions in the future.

We especially welcome comments on Haiti's law enforcement and judicial systems.

Bryan

that is so sad and bad

Soumis par lunie3 (non vérifié) le lun, 05/05/2008 - 12:58.

that is so sad and bad because those people don't understand

this is so sad i knt belive

Soumis par Anonymous (non vérifié) le sam, 12/15/2007 - 14:52.

this is so sad i knt belive thgey killd him

Re: Police and Judges

Soumis par Anonymous (non vérifié) le mar, 01/16/2007 - 15:40.
Just curious as to how you think a purging of corrupt officers should be undertaken. It is easy to propose but how do you suppose this could be carried out and maintained? Haiti is in a desperate state and cannot recover without intervention from outside sources. They do not have the resources to perform many of the tasks that are being suggested above. Where you do suppose the money to create civilian military forces would come from? Great ideas but seem quite unrealistic...

Short and long-term steps to bring security to the country

Soumis par Anonymous (non vérifié) le lun, 01/08/2007 - 20:46.
Authoritarians regimes have secret police to deal with kidnappers and troublemakers. A state such as Haiti where ther is an elected government should strive to get the following: 1) An intelligence agency that would operate both inside and outside the country. That agency could be used by the senate to locate and quietly neutralize the troublemakers. There is no question that withou stability, Haiti cannot survive long enough to attempt to solve its most pressing issues. 2) A political scarecrow to force Haitians from different political tribes to work together for the good of the country. Maybe Haitians will work better under fear than without it. That scarecrow exists: it is the Dominican Republic. Just as that country is using Haiti as a scarecrow to bring all the Dominicans together, it is high time to do the same. Carlos Morales Troncoso is telling everybody that it is no use helping Haiti and that its neighbors (read the Dominican Republic) should take over... 3) Two military bases, one in Ennery, and one in St Michel du Sud. Each base should have 100 permanent personnel. Their goals should only be to train military-age Haitians. Half of the training should be about patriotisms and the other half about weaponry, tactics, military doctrine and strategy. Haiti would have no standing army. However, all the command and control structure would exist, with all the officers. The only thing is that they would not be paid, the country being too poor to pay them. They would be civilian unless the country is invaded. Each trained Haitian would become part of a division based on where he is from. For example, if he is from Port de Paix, he would be part of the Maurepas division,brigade Nicolas Louis, and so on. There could be enough divisions to make up two or three armies. Supreme command could alternate every four years between the two or three army commanders. Any military caught within a 30 mile radius from Port-au-Prince with weapons and without the country being invaded should face death penalty. 3) Get decentralization going seriously and full speed ahead. Dilute the importance of Port-au-Prince and of the presidency. Just because a few troublemakers can manage to paralyze Port-au-Prince and force an early school closure there should not be an automatic school closure for the rest of the country and should not have any serious political ramifications. Each department should have its own way of collecting revenues, its own local government, and in most cases should be able to solve most of its local problems. For example the Nord Ouest should be able to stimulate tourisme at La Tortue and other sites and should reuse the tourism revenues to stimulate its own development. Pretty soon, they could build their own international airport. The central government would only deal with national stuff and relations between Haiti and other countries (foreign policy, etc...). This structure would give Haitians more government experience. For instance a local government chief who is working wonders in the Department du Sud could share his techmiques with other local department chiefs. If that successful chief ever becomes a presidential candidate, people could vote for him based on his background and not on emotions.

Purging the Police Force

Soumis par Bryan (non vérifié) le jeu, 01/04/2007 - 23:55.
Agree with you that purging the police force of corrupt officers is neccesary. But may corrupt officers are high level, and they may very well participate in organized (or disorganized) crime when they are without a job. Necessary, but Haiti will need assistance to keep an uptick in violence from occuring...

Police and Judges

Soumis par Anonymous (non vérifié) le jeu, 01/04/2007 - 09:00.
Several required actions are obvious:
  • Increase the size of the police force
  • Purge corrupt officers from the police force
  • Purge corrupt judges from the judiciary
This alone would improve the situation immensely. Work on the police force has already been started, and should continue. I am not aware of exactly what has been done to improve the courts.

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