Security Council Encourages Support for the Deployment of a “Specialized Force” in Haiti
14 July, New York: The Security Council today adopted a resolution that renewed the mandate of the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) for another year and encouraged Member States “to provide security support to the Haitian National Police (HNP) in response to the appeal from the Prime Minister of Haiti and the Secretary-General, including through the deployment of a specialized force, upon consultation with Haitian stakeholders” in order to help bring about a safer and more stable security situation in the violence-ravaged country.
The Council also strongly urged Member States to prohibit without delay “the supply, sale, or transfer of small arms, light weapons, and ammunition to non-State actors engaged in or supporting gang violence, criminal activities, or human rights abuses in Haiti, as well as to take all appropriate steps to prevent their illicit trafficking and diversion.”
Violence has worsened in Haiti over the past year due to increased gang activity, including killings, violence, rape, and kidnapping, all taking place in a context of widespread impunity. In her remarks to the Security Council on 6 July, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Haiti and Head of BINUH María Isabel Salvador said that there had been “an unprecedented breakdown of security, with criminal armed gangs imposing a regime of terror and violence in most parts of Port-au-Prince” and had also moved beyond the capital into the rest of Haiti. She also noted that “sexual violence, including collective rape and mutilation, continues to be used by gangs to terrorize and inflict pain on populations and neighborhoods under the control of rivals.”
By the text, the Council requested that the Secretary-General submit a report within 30 days that would outline the various ways in which UN engagement in the country could improve the security situation, including a “non-UN multinational force” or a “possible peacekeeping operation.”
The Council also decided to beef up BINUH’s capacity to support the HNP, including through the temporary deployment of specialized police teams in Port-au-Prince and to departments affected by gang violence.
The resolution requested that BINUH lend its support Haitian-led political process to permit the organization of free and fair legislative and presidential elections, with the full participation of all Haitians, including women and youth, through “an inclusive inter-Haitian national dialogue.”
The resolution comes on the heels of Secretary-General António Guterres’ first visit to Haiti, in which he appealed to the members of the Security Council to “authorize the immediate deployment of a robust international force to assist the Haitian National Police in its fight against the gangs.” He also called for increased support for the national police in the form of financing, training or equipment. Guterres met with Prime Minister Ariel Henry, the High Transitional Council, members of civil society and the political parties, speaking to all of them on the need for a Haitian owned and led political solution to the crisis.
Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo, who accompanied the Secretary-General, said she left Port-au-Prince “more convinced than ever of the need to support Haiti with a robust multinational force … to stabilize the situation and clear the way for a democratic transition.”
The Security Council last took action on the situation in Haiti in October 2022, when it passed a resolution authorizing a sanctions regime against Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier, leader of the alliance of gangs known as the “G9 Family and Allies.” In September, Cherizier seized the main fuel terminal in Haiti, which halted water distribution and sanitation and garbage collection and lead to a resurgence of cholera in the country.
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