The UN Security Council on Friday called on the international community to support the Haitian police, without responding to the call to send an international intervention force to help fight the gangs that plague the country.
The unanimously adopted resolution “encourages member states, including regional states, to provide security support to the Haitian National Police”, “including through the deployment of a specialized force “.
But the text, centered on the renewal for one year of the mandate of the UN political mission in Haiti (Binuh), is far from evoking a mandate for this hypothetical force.
Thus, the 15 members of the Council ask the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, to present within 30 days a report on the possible “options” to improve security, referring in particular to the fight against arms trafficking, police training, and “support for a non-UN multinational force or possible peacekeeping operation”.
Antonio Guterres relayed in October the Haitian government’s call for an international intervention force to support the overwhelmed police in the face of gang violence that terrorizes the population.
Snipers on the roofs, murders, kidnappings, rape of women and girls, looting, thousands of displaced people…: the latest report by the Secretary General published on Friday describes the extent of this violence “which has continued to escalate and spread “.
Between January and June, homicides increased by 67.5% compared to the second half of 2022 (2,094 recorded homicides against 1,250), according to the document which reports that some victims were beheaded.
” Disappointment “
And faced with the inability of the police to act, the inhabitants began to take justice into their own hands, with the emergence of the “Bwa Kale” self-defense movement which spread to all departments.
More than 224 suspected gang members were killed by vigilante groups between late April and late June, sometimes stoned, mutilated, “burned alive in the middle of the street in front of the police”, according to the report.
But the call to send a force is still unanswered. While a few countries have indicated that they are ready to participate, none has volunteered to lead such an operation in a country scalded by multiple foreign interventions.
While some members of the Council, notably the United States, have indicated their support for a possible international intervention, the idea does not seem to be unanimous.
“The nearly 30 years of UN action in Haiti have shown that temporary solutions from outside often fail to bring long-term results or to help Haiti truly emerge from the crisis,” said Geng Shuang. , Deputy Chinese Ambassador, whose country has a right of veto in the Council.
“Before taking the next step, the UN really needs to learn from the past,” he insisted.
While China has long advocated for a broad arms embargo, he further argued that “no amount of support for Haitian police will make any difference without a stop to the flow” of weapons to gangs. .
The resolution simply reiterates the call on member states to prevent the transfer of small arms to gangs.
The text also increases from 42 to 70 the number of Binuh personnel dedicated to law enforcement advice.
It is “a step in the right direction” but it cannot “sufficient to help the government to face the security challenge”, reacted the Haitian ambassador Antonio Rodrigue.
“The population is waiting for a concrete decision on the deployment of an international force, such has not been the case, and the disappointment must be great,” he added.