24547: Arthur (pub) "Keeping the Peace in Haiti?" a new report on UN mission in Haiti

[sak-pase@bimini.ws]

> "Keeping the Peace in Haiti?" a new report on the UN
> mission in Haiti by the 
> Harvard Law School/Global Justice Center
> (Centro de Justiça Global) can be 
> read online
> at:
>
> http://www.global.org.br/haitienglish.pdf 
>
> Executive
> Summary:
>
> A little over a year since international pressure and
> an armed rebellion 
> forced the departure of President Jean-Bertrand
> Aristide and the collapse of his 
> government, Haiti is at risk of
> becoming a permanent failed state. The presence 
> of the United
> Nations (â??U.N.â??) peacekeeping force, established three months
> after Aristideâ??s controversial ouster, has done little to
> establish stability, 
> protect the populace, or curb human rights
> violations. This report critiques 
> the performance of that
> peacekeeping force, the United Nations Stabilization 
> Mission in
> Haiti (â??MINUSTAHâ??), by documenting its failure to effectuate not
> only the overriding spirit but even the plain terms of its mandate.
>
> U.N. Security Council Resolution 1542 established MINUSTAH on
> June 1, 2004 
> and endowed the mission with a strong mandate in three
> principal areas: 
> providing a secure and stable environment,
> particularly through disarmament; 
> supporting the political process
> and good governance in preparation for upcoming 
> elections; and
> monitoring and reporting on human rights. As this report details,
> MINUSTAH has made little, if any, progress on any of these three
> fronts. Although 
> partially a consequence of the slow deployment of
> forces and personnel, 
> MINUSTAHâ??s failures are largely the result
> of the timid interpretation of its 
> mandate by its officials. Even
> now, staffed in full, the peacekeeping force 
> continues to interpret
> its mandate complacently and with a narrowness unfit 
> for the
> situation on the ground. 
>
> After eight months under MINUSTAHâ??s
> watch, Haiti is as insecure as ever. 
> MINUSTAH has failed even to
> begin to implement a comprehensive program for 
> disarmament, leaving
> large pockets of the country effectively ruled by illegal groups
> with guns and other weapons. Civilian casualties remain common in
> Port-au-Princeâ??s slums, where gangs wage daily, low-level urban
> warfare. Large swaths of 
> the poor countryside remain under the
> control of the former military, 
> historically the major domestic
> force behind coups dâ??états and among the foremost 
> violators of
> human rights. 
>
> In the area of human rights, MINUSTAH has been
> equally lax. Numerous 
> allegations of severe human rights abuses by
> the Haitian National Police (â??HNPâ??) 
> remain uninvestigated.
> These violations span a gory spectrum, from arbitrary 
> arrest and
> detention, to disappearances and summary executions, to killing of
> scores of hospitalized patients and the subsequent disposal of
> their bodies at mass 
> graves. As this report details, MINUSTAH has
> effectively provided cover for 
> the police to wage a campaign of
> terror in Port-au-Princeâ??s slums. Even more 
> distressing than
> MINUSTAHâ??s complicity in HNP abuses are credible allegations of
> human rights abuses perpetrated by MINUSTAH itself, as documented
> in this 
> report. MINUSTAH, however, has virtually ignored these
> allegations as well, 
> relegating them to obscurity and thus
> guaranteeing that abuses go uncorrected. In 
> short, instead of
> following the specific prescription of its mandate by putting 
> an
> end to impunity in Haiti, MINUSTAHâ??s failures have ensured its
> continuation. 
>
> The MINUSTAH mandate provides ample ground
> for a robust approach to security, 
> disarmament and human rights.
> Indeed, as set forth in this report, its 
> mandate requires a serious
> and active commitment to furthering peace in Haiti. 
> Although the
> MINUSTAH mission has virtually squandered eight critical months, the
> time is not yet too late to begin an earnest application of its
> mandate. We 
> continue to believe MINUSTAH holds tremendous promise
> to help Haiti achieve 
> peace, stability and respect for human
> rights. With elections slated for the end of 
> 2005, the time is now
> for MINUSTAH to commit itself to rigorous enforcement 
> of its
> mandate.
>
> _____
>
>
> This email is forwarded as a service
> of the Haiti Support Group. 
>
> See the Haiti Support Group web
> site:
> www.haitisupport.gn.apc.org
>
> Solidarity with the Haitian
> people's struggle for justice, participatory 
> democracy and equitable
> development, since 1992.