United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Haiti

The United Nations Stabilisation Mission In Haiti (UNSTAMIH) (Mission des Nations Unies pour la stabilisation en Haïti), also known as MINUSTAH, an acronym of the French translation, is a United Nations peacekeeping mission in Haiti that has been in operation since 2004. The mission's military component is led by the Brazilian Army and the force commander is Brazilian. MINUSTAH's mandate was recently extended by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1944 past its October 15, 2010 deadline amid fears of instability. The mission's current mandate runs through October 15, 2012 with the intention of further renewal. The force is composed of 8,940 military personnel and 3,711 police, supported by an international civilian personnel, a local civilian staff and United Nations Volunteers.

Following the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the United Nations reported that the headquarters of the mission in Port-au-Prince had collapsed and that the mission's chief, Hédi Annabi of Tunisia, his deputy Luiz Carlos da Costa of Brazil, and the acting police commissioner, RCMP Supt. Doug Coates of Canada, were confirmed dead. On 14 January 2010, UN headquarters dispatched the former head of MINUSTAH and current Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Edmond Mulet, as the organisation's Acting Special Representative of the Secretary-General and interim head of MINUSTAH. Mulet clarified on January 22 that MINUSTAH will concentrate on assisting the Haitian National Police in providing security within the country after the earthquake, while American and Canadian military forces will distribute humanitarian aid and provide security for aid distribution.

Background
According to its mandate from the UN Security Council, MINUSTAH is required to concentrate the use of its resources, including civilian police, on increasing security and protection during the electoral period and to assist with the restoration and maintenance of the rule of law, public safety and public order in Haiti. MINUSTAH was established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1542 on 30 April 2004 because the Security Council deemed the situation in Haiti to be a threat to international peace and security in the region. In 2004, UN peacekeepers stormed Cité Soleil in an attempt to gain control of the area and end the anarchy.

In 2004, independent human rights organizations accused MINUSTAH and the Haitian National Police (HNP) of collaborating in numerous atrocities against civilians. The UN, after repeatedly denying having taken the lives of any civilians, later admitted that civilians may have been killed, but argued that this was not intentional, and that it occurred as a by-product of their crackdown on what they call “gangs”. They also said that the UN and MINUSTAH deeply regretted any loss of life during the operation.

In early 2005, MINUSTAH force commander Lieutenant-General Augusto Heleno Ribeiro Pereira testified at a congressional commission in Brazil that “we are under extreme pressure from the international community to use violence,” citing Canada, France, and the United States. Later in the year, he resigned, and on 1 September 2005, was replaced by General Urano Teixeira da Matta Bacellar as force commander of MINUSTAH. On 7 January 2006, Bacellar was found dead in his hotel room. His interim replacement was Chilean General Eduardo Aldunate Hermann.

On 17 January 2006, it was announced that Brazilian General José Elito Carvalho de Siqueira would be the permanent replacement for Bacellar as the head of the United Nations' Haiti force.

On 14 February 2006, in Security Council Resolution 1658, the United Nations Security Council extended MINUSTAH's mandate until 15 August 2006.

MINUSTAH is also a precedent as the first mission in the region to be led by the Brazilian and Chilean military, and almost entirely composed of, Latin American forces, particularly from Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador and Uruguay. From 1 September 2007 until his death following the earthquake on 12 January 2010, the mission was led by Tunisian Hédi Annabi.

United Nations reports and resolutions
On 23 February 2004, the United Nations Security Council was convened at the request of CARICOM for the first time in four years to address the deteriorating situation in Haiti.

On 29 February 2004, the Security Council passed a resolution "taking note of the resignation of Jean-Bertrand Aristide as President of Haiti and the swearing-in of President Boniface Alexandre as the acting President of Haiti in accordance with the Constitution of Haiti" and authorized the immediate deployment of a Multinational Interim Force.

On 30 April 2004, MINUSTAH was established and given its mandate with a military component of up to 6,700 troops.

In July the General Assembly authorized the financing of the mission with $200 million which followed a donors' conference in Washington DC.

The first progress report from MINUSTAH was released at the end of August.

In September the interim president of Haiti, Boniface Alexandre, spoke to the United Nations General Assembly in support of MINUSTAH.

In November there was a second report, and the Security Council mandate for MINUSTAH.

The mandate has most recently been extended by the Security Council until October 2010 "with the intention of further renewal".

Status


Although the United Nations Stabilization Mission (MINUSTAH) has been in Haiti since 2004, as of 2007, it continued to struggle for control over the armed gangs. It maintains an armed checkpoint at the entrance to the shanty town of Cité Soleil and the road is blocked with armed vehicles. In January 2006, two Jordanian peacekeepers were killed in Cité Soleil. In October 2006 a heavily armed group of the Haitian National Police were able to enter Cité Soleil for the first time in three years and were able to remain one hour as armored UN troops patrolled the area. Since this is where the armed gangs take their kidnap victims, the police's ability to penetrate the area even for such a short time was seen as a sign of progress. The situation of continuing violence is similar in Port-au-Prince. Ex-soldiers, supporters of the ex-president, occupied the home of ex-president Jean-Bertrand Aristide against the wishes of the Haitian government. Before Christmas 2006 the UN force announced that it would take a tougher stance against gang members in Port-au-Prince, but since then the atmosphere there has not improved and the armed roadblocks and barbed wire barricades have not been moved. After four people were killed and another six injured in a UN operation exchange of fire with criminals in Cité Soleil in late January 2007, the United States announced that it would contribute $20 million to create jobs in Cité Soleil.

In early February 2007, 700 UN troops flooded Cité Soleil resulting in a major gun battle. Although the troops make regular forcible entries into the area, a spokesperson said this one was the largest attempted so far by the UN troops. On 28 July 2007, Edmond Mulet, the UN Special Representative in Haiti and MINUSTAH Mission Chief, warned of a sharp increase in lynchings and other mob attacks in Haiti. He said MINUSTAH, which now has 9,000 troops there, will launch a campaign to remind people lynchings are a crime.

On 2 August 2007, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon arrived in Haiti to assess the role of the UN forces, announcing that he would visit Cité Soleil during his visit. He said that it was Haiti's largest slum and as such was the most important target for U.N. peace keepers in gaining control over the armed gangs. During his visit he announced an extension of the mandate of the UN forces in Haiti. It took MINUSTAH three months and 800 arrests to deal with the gangs and lessen the number of kidnappings on the streets.

President René Préval has expressed ambivalent feelings about the UN security presence, stating “if the Haitian people were asked if they wanted the UN forces to leave they would say yes.” Survivors frequently blame the UN peace keepers for deaths of relatives.

In April 2008, Haiti was facing a severe food crisis as well as governmental destabilization to Parliament's failure to ratify the president's choice of a prime minister. There were severe riots and the UN force fired rubber bullets in Port-au-Prince and the riot calmed. The head of MINUSTAH has called for a new government to be chosen as soon as possible. Meanwhile, the UN provided emergency food. Haiti was hit by four consecutive hurricanes between August and September 2008. These storms crippled coastal regions, requiring humanitarian aid for 800,000.

Critics of MINUSTAH's goal of providing security say that the provision of increased police presence is coming with the unfortunate consequence of neglecting the vast socioeconomic problems in the area, the lack of effort in addressing infrastructure improvement, the joblessness and the pervasive poverty. In 2009, with the appointment of former U.S. President Bill Clinton as the UN Special Envoy, there is hope that the international donor community will provide increased aid. MINUSTAH renewed its commitment to Haiti, and $3 billion for projects has been pledged by the international community, much of this for rebuilding after the hurricanes. However, in Cité Soleil, there are signs of a desire for political independence that the international community would rather ignore.

In October 2010, 9 months after the earthquake, the UN extended MINUSTAH's mission. The extension was greeted by unusual anger in Port-au-Prince with demonstrators saying "Down with the occupation" and burning the flag of Brazil, as representative of the largest contingent of MINUSTAH.

2010 Haiti earthquake


On 12 January 2010, the United Nations reported that headquarters of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), the Christopher Hotel in Port-au-Prince, collapsed, and several other UN facilities were damaged; a large number of UN personnel were unaccounted for in the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake. The Mission's Chief, Hédi Annabi, was reported dead on 13 January by President René Préval and French news sources and on 16 January the United Nations confirmed the death after his body was recovered by a search and rescue team from China. Principal Deputy Special Representative Luiz Carlos da Costa was also confirmed dead, as well as the Acting Police Commissioner, Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Superintendent Doug Coates, who were meeting with eight Chinese nationals—four peacekeepers and a delegation of four police officers from China—when the earthquake struck. The Chinese search and rescue team recovered the bodies of the ten individuals on 16 January 2010. Jens Kristensen, senior humanitarian officer for the UN was rescued by a Fairfax, Virginia team after five days trapped in the rubble.

Mission composition


Heads of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti:


 * Juan Gabriel Valdés of Chile, August 2004 to May 2006.
 * Edmond Mulet of Guatemala, June 2006 to August 2007.
 * Hédi Annabi of Tunisia, September 2007 to January 2010.
 * Edmond Mulet of Guatemala, January 2010 to June 2011.
 * Mariano Fernández Amunátegui of Chile, June 2011 to present.

Force commanders of the MINUSTAH military component:

Countries contributing military personnel (7,206 in all):
 * Army General Augusto Heleno Ribeiro Pereira, Brazil, 2004 to August 2005
 * Divisional General Urano Teixeira da Matta Bacellar, Brazil, September 2005 to January 2006.
 * General Eduardo Aldunate Hermann, Chile, January 2006 (interim appointment).
 * Divisional General José Elito Carvalho Siqueira, Brazil, January 2006 to January 2007.
 * Brigadier General Carlos Alberto dos Santos Cruz, Brazil, January 2007 to April, 2009.
 * Brigadier General Floriano Peixoto Vieira Neto, Brazil, April, 2009 to March 2010.
 * Brigadier General Luiz Guilherme Paul Cruz, Brazil, March, 2010 to March 2011
 * Brigadier General Luiz Eduardo Ramos Baptista Pereira, Brazil, March, 2011 to March 2012
 * Brigadier General Fernando Rodrigues Goulart, Brazil, March 2012 to present


 * Argentina (558 including a field hospital ), Bolivia (208), Brazil (2,200), Canada (10), Chile (499), Croatia (3), Ecuador (67), France (2), Indonesia (167), Guatemala (118), Jordan (728), Nepal (1,075), Paraguay (31), Peru (209), the Philippines (157), Sri Lanka (959), United States (4), and Uruguay (1,135).

Countries contributing police/civilian personnel (2,031 in all):


 * Israel (14), Benin (32), Brazil (4), Burkina Faso (26), Cameroon (8), Canada (94), Central African Republic (7), Chad (3), Chile (15), China (143), Colombia (37). Côte D'Ivoire (60), DR Congo (2), Egypt (22), El Salvador (7), France (64), Grenada (3), Guinea (55), India (139), Italy (4), Jamaica (5), Jordan (312), Madagascar (2), Mali (55), Nepal (168), Niger (62), Nigeria (128), Pakistan (248), Philippines (18), Romania (23), Russian Federation (10), Rwanda (14), Senegal (131), Serbia (5), Spain (41), Sri Lanka (7), Togo (5), Turkey (46), United States (48), Uruguay (7), and Yemen (1).

Cholera controversy
In October 2010, a Cholera outbreak was confirmed in Haiti—the first in Haitian modern history. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as of August 4, 2013, 669,396 cases and 8,217 deaths have been reported since the outbreak first began in October 2010. MINUSTAH has been linked with introducing the disease to the country by a variety of independent sources, including the CDC, the American Society for Microbiology, and Yale Law School and the School of Public Health. The cause of the disease was attributed to faulty construction of UN sanitation systems in its base located in the Haitian town of Méyè. Many reports from Méyè stated that people had seen sewage spilling from the UN base into the Artibonite River, the largest river in Haiti that is most often used by residents for drinking, cooking, and bathing.

In December 2010, a study traced the Haitian cholera strain to South Asia. After denying the accusations many times, the UN announced that it would be conducting an independent investigation into the origin of the epidemic at the end of 2010. A panel of independent UN experts was assembled and their collective findings were compiled in a report. The panel determined that the evidence implicating the Nepalese troops was inconclusive. Though they admitted that the cholera strain was most likely from Nepal, it cited a confluence of factors that also contributed to the outbreak and that no one "deliberate action of, a group or individual was to blame". However, in 2013, the committee changed its statement concluding that the UN troops from Nepal “most likely” were the cause of the outbreak.

The Bureau des Avocats Internationaux (BAI), a Haitian coalition of lawyers, and the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti (IJDH), its US-affiliate, filed claims with MINUSTAH on behalf of 5,000 Haitian petitioners in November 2011. The claims asked for the installation of the water and sanitation infrastructure necessary to control the epidemic, compensation for the victims, and an apology. Fifteen months later, on February 2013, the UN stated that the case was “not receivable,” because it involved “review of policy matters”, citing the Convention on Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations.

In February 2013, The Haitian government created its National Plan for the Elimination of Cholera, a 10-year plan set to eradicate the disease. Two of the ten years will be devoted as a short-term response to the epidemic. The last eight will be to completely eliminate the disease. The projected budget for the plan is $2 billion. To support the initiative, UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, pledged $23.5 million to combat cholera. However, following the pledge, there was much discontent with the UN’s progress. 19 Members of U.S. Congress urge UN to take responsibility for cholera in Haiti. In two separate occasions, members of the US Congress sent a letter to the US ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, urging her and the organization to ensure that the cholera initiative was fully funded and implemented quickly. Nineteen US Representatives also wrote to Ban Ki-Moon to express concerns about the seemingly lack of progress in the UN’s cholera response. Ban Ki-moon told members of the US Congress that the UN was committed in helping Haiti overcome the epidemic though no financial compensation to the victims would be granted. Since 2010, the UN has spent and/or committed more than $140 million to the epidemic.

On May 9, 2013, the Haitian Senate unanimously voted—save for one abstention—on a policy that would demand the UN to compensate Haitian cholera victims. Senators also proposed to form “a commission of experts in international and penal law to study what legal means, both nationally and internationally, we could use to prove MINUSTAH’s responsibility for starting the cholera outbreak.”

Criticism
A number of incidents and the aim of the UN mission itself have led to widespread criticism of its actions and appeal for its departure.

Political bias
The United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti is the only significant military mission of the United Nations dispatched to a country facing an internal conflict without a peace agreement between the parties. Critics have characterized MINUSTAH as an attempt by the United States, Canada and France to oust Haiti's democratically elected populist president Jean-Bertrand Aristide, neutralize the supporters of Fanmi Lavalas, and secure the more pro-Western government of Gérard Latortue. In 2005, a report undertaken by Harvard Law Student Advocates for Human Rights claimed that the UN stabilization force "effectively provided cover for the police to wage a campaign of terror in Port-au-Prince's slums", which constitute "an unflinching bastion of support for Aristide and for Lavalas".

6 July 2005 incident
On 6 July 2005, MINUSTAH carried out a raid in the Cité Soleil section of Port-au-Prince. MINUSTAH spokespeople claimed that the raid targeted a base of illegally armed rebels led by Dread Wilme. Reports from pro-Lavalas sources, as well as journalists such as Kevin Pina, contend that the raid targeted civilians and was an attempt to destroy the popular support for Haiti's exiled former leader, Aristide, before scheduled upcoming elections. The "totally inappropriate solution for the member-states to tell the UN to take sides in Haiti" has not only been denounced by Westerners but also resented by the local population.

Estimates on the number of fatalities range from five to as high as 80, with the higher numbers being claimed by those reporting that the raid targeted civilians. All sources agree that no MINUSTAH personnel were killed. All sources also agree that Dread Wilme (born "Emmanuel Wilmer") was killed in the raid. MINUSTAH spokespeople called Wilme a "gangster." Other sources, such as the pro-Aristide Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network call Wilme a community leader and a martyr.

The incident became a focal point for groups who oppose the MINUSTAH occupation of Haiti and who support the return of President Aristide. MINUSTAH has also been accused by opponents of standing by and allowing the Haitian National Police to commit atrocities and massacres against Lavalas supporters and Haitian citizens opposed to the current occupation.

On 6 January 2006, UN mission head Juan Gabriel Valdés announced that MINUSTAH forces would launch another raid on Cité Soleil. Dismissing fears by human rights groups that more civilians will be killed, Valdés said, "We are going to intervene in the coming days. I think there'll be collateral damage but we have to impose our force, there is no other way."

Sex scandal
MINUSTAH has been accused of being involved in a number of sexual assault cases. In 2008, Nepalese UN soldiers were charged with the rape of a Haitian female adolescent. In 2011, four Uruguayan UN marines were accused of gang raping a 19-year-old Haitian boy in Port Salut, Haiti. The alleged rape was recorded with a cell phone by the peacekeepers themselves and leaked to the Internet. The teenager and his family were forced to relocate their house after the video went viral. In March 2012, three Pakistani MINUSTAH officers were found guilty of raping a mentally challenged 14-year-old boy in the Haitian town of Gonaives. Pakistani officials sentenced each officer to one year in Pakistan prison.

In November 2007, 114 members of the 950 member Sri Lanka peacekeeping contingent in Haiti were accused of sexual misconduct and abuse. 108 members, including 3 officers were sent back after being implicated in alleged misconduct and sexual abuse. UN spokeswoman Michele Montas said: "The United Nations and the Sri Lankan government deeply regret any sexual exploitation and abuse that has occurred." The Sri Lankan Officials claim that there is little tangible evidence on this case. After inquiry into the case the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) has concluded ‘acts of sexual exploitation and abuse (against children) were frequent and occurred usually at night, and at virtually every location where the contingent personnel were deployed.’ The OIOS is assisting in the pending legal proceedings initiated by the Sri Lankan Government and has said charges should include statutory rape "because it involves children under 18 years of age".

Human Rights Cases
In 2010, MINUSTAH was accused with the murder of Gérard Jean-Gilles, a 16-year-old Haitian boy who ran miscellaneous errands for the Nepalese soldiers in Cap Haitien. His body was found hanging inside of MINUSTAH’s Formed Police Unit base. UN soldiers denied responsibility, claiming that the teen committed suicide. The troops released the body for autopsy seventy-two hours after the death; the examination ruled out suicide as a potential cause of death. Nepalese UN troops were also accused for a variety of other misdeeds. Several days before the Jean-Gilles incident, the local press charged a Nepalese soldier of torturing a minor in a public area in Cap-Haitien. The soldier was said to have forced “his hands into the youth’s mouth in an attempt to separate his lower jaw form his upper jaw, tearing the skin of his mouth. ”

Many have also expressed discontent with MINUSTAH and its management of political public dissent. Past incidents include November 15, 2010 when Haitian residents protested against MINUSTAH occupation. The protests, which occurred in Cap-Haitien and other areas throughout the country, resulted in at least two civilian deaths and numerous injuries. MINUSTAH released a statement claiming that the protest seemed politically motivated, “aimed at creating a climate of insecurity on the eve of elections.” Moreover, it acknowledged the deaths, stating that a UN peacekeeper shot out of self-defense.

On June 18, 2009, Fanmi Lavalas (Haiti's largest political party and grassroots movement) laid Catholic priest Father Gerard Jean-Juste to rest on 18 June accompanied by thousands of mourners. The procession and demonstration were suddenly interrupted by gunfire that could be heard from around the corner. Witnesses report that Brazilian soldiers with the United Nations military mission opened fire after attempting to arrest one of the mourners. The UN has since denied the shooting and claim that the victim had been killed by either a rock thrown by the crowd or a blunt instrument. Eyewitnesses on the scene have countered that the UN is trying to cover-up the incident.

Legal proceedings
A trial involving the Brazilian contingent of the military forces of the MINUSTAH is currently in progress at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR). The case, brought forward by Mario Joseph from the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux (BAI) and Brian Concannon from the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti, concerns Jimmy Charles, a grassroots activist who was arrested by UN troops in 2005, and handed over to the Haitian police. His body was found a few days later in the morgue, filled with bullet holes. The BAI filed a complaint in Haitian courts, to no avail, and in early 2006 it filed a petition with the IACHR. The IACHR accepted the case regarding the State of Haiti, and rejected the complaint against Brazil, showing a legal vacuum in the UN's accountability.