A court on Friday blocked the Kenyan government’s “unconstitutional, illegal and invalid” decision to deploy a thousand police officers to Haiti as part of a UN-backed mission to try to stem gang violence there.
The government announced in a press release that it would “immediately contest” this decision.
The Nairobi High Court verdict marks a halt to the much-anticipated multinational force to try to quell the growing chaos in this small Caribbean state, where gang violence has left nearly 5,000 dead, including more than 2,700 civilians. , in 2023, according to a report Tuesday from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Faced with increasingly pressing calls from the Haitian government and the UN, Kenya agreed in July to lead this force of 2,500 to 2,600 men, hoped for “during the first quarter of 2024”, according to the deputy special representative of the Haitian government. UN in Haiti.
The UN gave the green light in October to this force, also supported by the United States.
But the Kenyan government’s announcement, validated in parliament on November 16, sparked strong protest in this East African country.
Opponent Ekuru Aukot had notably appealed to the Nairobi High Court, arguing that this mission was unconstitutional because it had no legal basis.
“The National Security Council has no mandate to deploy national police officers outside Kenya,” said Justice Enock Chacha Mwita.
“Such a decision contravenes the Constitution and the law and is therefore unconstitutional, illegal and invalid,” he added.
The Kenyan government “reiterated its commitment to honor its international obligations” while affirming that it would “contest” this verdict, government spokesperson Isaac Maigua Mwaura said in a statement.
“We will still wait for them at the Court of Appeal and we will go to the Supreme Court,” Ekuru Aukot assured AFP, welcoming the decision.
“Gang Hell”
The Haitian Minister of Foreign Affairs once again urged Thursday for the rapid sending of reinforcements to the island.
“Every day that passes without this much-hoped-for support is one day too many that we live in gang hell,” Jean Victor Généus declared before the UN Security Council.
Preparations for this force, the total strength and exact composition of which, however, remained to be finalized, were underway.
The Kenyan ambassador to the UN, Martin Kimani, said Thursday that “without prejudging the court decision, the government […] has made significant progress in preparing for the mission.”
Kenya has already participated in several peacekeeping operations in neighboring countries (DRC, Somalia) and in other parts of the world (Liberia, East Timor, former Yugoslavia, etc.)
But critics of the mission in Haiti had warned of the danger of exposing police officers in unfamiliar territory to heavily armed local gangs. “This deployment is a suicide mission,” said Ekuru Aukot.
For Kenyan President William Ruto, it was on the contrary a “mission for humanity” in a country ravaged, according to him, by colonialism.
“Rapid expansion”
In a report Tuesday, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned of the “staggering level of gang violence, which continues to worsen” in Haiti.
While the gangs were until recently mainly present in the capital and its suburbs, he highlighted the “rapid expansion” of their violence in rural areas previously spared.
The number of homicides more than doubled (+119.4%) in 2023 compared to 2022, reaching 4,789 deaths. Of those killed, more than 2,700 were civilians and more than 1,600 were gang members.
“Murders, sexual violence and kidnappings committed by organized gangs, particularly against women and girls, among other crimes, continue with impunity,” he added.
In a context of terror, of residents forced to flee or hide, the country is experiencing one of the “worst” food crises in the world.
More than 4.35 million Haitians, or more than 40% of the population, are experiencing acute food insecurity.