UN chief calls for international police force to help combat Haiti’s armed gangs

UNITED NATIONS (AP):

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called Thursday for a robust international force to help combat Haiti’s armed gangs and restore security in the impoverished nation, saying that a UN expert’s estimate that Haiti needs up to 2,000 additional anti-gang police officers is no exaggeration.

Stressing that the UN is not calling for a military force or a political mission, Guterres appealed to UN Security Council members and potential contributing countries “to act now” to deploy a multinational force to help the Haitian National Police “defeat and dismantle the gangs”.

The Caribbean nation has been asking for such a force since last October, and Guterres has been looking for a country to lead the deployment.

The United States and Canada, two likely candidates, have opted out. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters in Georgetown, Guyana, on Thursday that the United States is involved in discussions trying to find a lead nation.

The UN chief, who visited Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince on Saturday, told reporters that criminal gangs have a “stranglehold” on the population. “The Haitian people are trapped in a living nightmare. Humanitarian conditions are beyond appalling,” he said.

Guterres spoke ahead of a Security Council meeting later Thursday on his report on Haiti and following Wednesday’s news conference by the UN independent expert for Haiti, William O’Neill, who concluded a 10-day trip to the country last week.

O’Neill estimated that Haiti needs 1,000 to 2,000 international police with expertise in organised criminal gangs and their financing, as well as in kidnappings and urban operations. He stressed that the quality of the officers is more important than the quantity.

Guterres, asked about O’Neill’s estimate, said the right number for an international force needs to be assessed but that it should be “a meaningful number”, and that he believes the UN expert’s numbers “do not reflect any exaggeration”. He added that the police also need financing, training and equipment.

At the council meeting, many members supported the secretary-general’s call for an international force but there were no new offers. Jamaica and The Bahamas have already signalled their willingness to contribute to a multinational force, and Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali said Rwanda and Kenya have also indicated a willingness.

O’Neill, an American lawyer who has been working on Haiti for over 30 years and helped establish the Haitian National Police in 1995, told reporters: “I have never seen the situation as bad as it is now.”

But he stressed that Haiti “is not without hope”, and cited efforts by prosecutors in Port-au-Prince to speed up work on criminal cases and to launch corruption cases against top officials. He also singled out the customs agency’s efforts to collect taxes and duties that weren’t previously being paid.

Guterres called for simultaneous action on three fronts: restoring security, working towards a political solution that restores democratic institutions, and addressing urgent humanitarian needs. He called on donors to respond quickly to the UN appeal for US$720 million to help more than three million people, which is only 23 per cent funded.

The UN chief said these three steps are vital to break Haiti’s cycle of suffering and create a path out of the crisis.