24893: Arthur (pub) Just how many police are there in the Haitian police force? (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Tttnhm@aol.com

How many police are there in the Haitian police force? - Haiti Support Group
press release, 27 April 2005

The Haiti Support Group today wrote to the United Nations Stabilisation
Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) asking for clarification on the number of officers in
the Haitian National Police force (HNP). The letter draws attention to the
widely varying totals referred to by the interim government and by international
organisations, and asks if anyone is sure exactly how many police officers
there are in Haiti.

The interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue has made frequent references to
the insufficient size of the HNP. His most recent remark was in mid-April when,
according to the Reuters news agency, Latortue told visiting members of the
U.N. Security Council that the 3,500-strong Haitian police force needed more
help.

This figure is contradicted by other, seemingly reliable, reports which cite
quite different totals:
- The Organisation of American States mission in Haiti, in its third
quarterly report, states that "recruitment in the HNP continued, reaching a total of
5,500 active officers in late February..."
- The International Crisis Group in its briefing on Haiti published in
February refers to interviews with the HNP General Director on 19-20 January 2005
during which he is reported to have stated his confidence in the "competence and
loyalty of only one third of his present 4,000 officers".
- The Small Arms Survey in its April report on disarmament in Haiti refers to
"estimates generated by MINUSTAH and the interim Government" that "indicate
that there are approximately 5,000 HNP officers..."

The Haiti Support Group's director, Charles Arthur, said, "These
discrepancies are worrying enough - why doesn't anybody seem to know the exact number? But
what is worse is that a very reliable source has informed us that the interim
government has been issuing, and is continuing to issue, monthly pay cheques
to some 6,000 members of the HNP!"

Arthur continued, "The first point is, does the MINUSTAH know exactly how
many serving members of the HNP there really are, and if it does not know, why
not? It has been in Haiti for nearly one year, and one of the most important
elements of its mandate under Resolution 1542 is the reform and restructuring of
the HNP. How can the HNP be reorganised, how can its personnel be vetted, if
no one is even sure how many officers it has?"

U.N. Resolution 1542 authorises the deployment of the MINUSTAH to establish a
secure and stable environment, and specifically:
"to assist the Transitional Government in monitoring, restructuring and
reforming the Haitian National Police, consistent with democratic policing
standards, including through the vetting and certification of its personnel, advising
on its reorganization and training, including gender training, as well as
monitoring/mentoring members of the Haitian National Police."

The letter - addressed to the U.N special envoy to Haiti, Juan Valdes, and
the head of the MINUSTAH civilian police, David Beer - also makes reference the
recent media reports in which U.S. officials acknowledge that in August 2004
the U.S. government gave 2,657 weapons to bolster the Haitian police force, and
that the U.S. State Department is now considering a request by the Haitian
government to approve the sale of an additional US$1.9 million in weapons this
year from a U.S.-based arms dealer. The Haiti Support Group is concerned that
these arms are being delivered to a police force which is not being properly
monitored by the MINUSTAH, and could be used to commit more of the human rights
abuses that members of the HNP have already been accused of.

The Haiti Support Group letter also raises the issues of transparency and
corruption, remarking that apparently the interim government is telling the
MINUSTAH there are 5,000 members but, at the same time, it is issuing monthly
cheques to 6,000. Arthur asked, "Are there people pocketing the salaries disbursed
to 1,000 non-existent police officers - and, if so, who are these people? Or
is the money being used to fund some other 'security force' that the MINUSTAH
is not being informed about?


The Haiti Support Group is a UK-based solidarity organisation that has been
working in defence of human rights and against impunity in Haiti since 1992.

____

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.