An agreement relating to MMAS status protections signed between Kenya and Haiti, obtained by AyiboPost, establishes the balance of power with the Haitian authorities, as well as the immunities and privileges of its members
The first contingent of Kenyan officers of the Multinational Security Support Mission (MMAS) in Haiti landed on the tarmac of Toussaint Louverture International Airport, in Port-au-Prince, on Tuesday June 25, 2024.
Kenya Airways landing at Toussaint Louverture International Airport on June 25, 2024. | © Jean Feguens Regala/AyiboPost
These agents must accompany Haitian forces in their fight against gangs and help stabilize the country before elections are held.
A deal relating to the status protections of the MMAS signed between Kenya and Haiti, obtained by AyiboPost, establishes the balance of power with the Haitian authorities, as well as the immunities and privileges of its members.
According to this document, personnel are not subject to inspection upon arrival in Haiti, do not pay taxes on their income and emoluments, and do not pay local taxes for purchases made for official use. .
This text grants immunity to mission staff and local contractors in the exercise of their functions. No member of the mission can be imprisoned in Haiti.
Any criminal legal proceedings will be conducted in the country of origin of the officer involved. A member of the mission apprehended in flagrante delicto must be handed over without delay to the mission for the necessary follow-up.
The mission commander may arrest team members who violate ethics and discipline policies and directives.
In these cases, it returns these individuals to the States that deployed them for appropriate disciplinary action. Appropriate policies, procedures and measures are not made public.
No member of the mission can be imprisoned in Haiti. Any criminal legal proceedings will be conducted in the country of origin of the officer involved.
The mission and its contractors can import materials, equipment and provisions free of duties and taxes. The government must establish temporary customs facilities for this purpose. Non-Haitian contract workers remain exempt from taxes.
The mission and its contractors may set up sales stores for the use of their members. Local staff cannot benefit from the services of these institutions.
The mission also has the possibility of setting up radio stations to broadcast information relating to its mandate to the public.
No MMAS operation is subject to financial control. And the mission can re-export or transfer its goods, equipment and provisions which have not been given to the Haitian state.
Kenyan police officers on the tarmac of Toussaint Louverture international airport.
Questioned by AyiboPost on the immunity granted to MMAS personnel, the Minister of Justice and Public Security, Me Carlos Hercule, maintains that it is a “standard agreement, almost a copy of the Convention United Nations [de 1946] on diplomatic privileges and immunities.
The minister did not provide information on the first actions of the Kenyan officers.
“It is the Haitian authorities who will determine where they go, what their mission will be and to what extent they can provide assistance,” continues Mr. Hercule. “It is an available contingent which will respond to orders from the Haitian National Police and the Haitian Armed Forces.”
A small crowd, including around twenty journalists, came to witness the disembarkation of the Kenyans near Toussaint Louverture airport yesterday Tuesday.
Around 9:20 a.m., a white aircraft marked “Kenya Airways” landed on the tarmac of Toussaint Louverture airport.
The journalists’ cameras machine-gun the plane with impatient clicks.
Spectacular gathering of journalists near Toussaint Louverture International Airport, with a view to taking a few photos during the landing of the first contingent of Kenyan officers of the Multinational Security Support Mission (MMAS), June 25, 2024 .
“Finally ! They are there,” declared with relief Jacques Sainté, a bootshine boy, visibly in his forties, who had come to witness the scene.
Sainté had fled gang violence with her daughter in July 2022 in Cité-Soleil. Since then, they have never returned home.
The man with the emaciated face, who says he feels like he is reliving history, tells AyiboPost that he witnessed the landing of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti in 2004.
He remains cautious after leaving MINUSTAH disappointed in 2017.
Read also: A look back at 15 years of UN failures in Haiti
The mission was responsible for multiple cases of human rights violations and introduced cholera in the country.
“I only have one hope: here it is,” declared Sainté, turning his back on the plane and pointing towards the sky.
In the street, next to the airport, a mixture of enthusiasm, indifference and sometimes disappointment can be seen on the faces of the hundred people displaced for the disembarkation and of the passers-by at the sight of the plane.
The first contingent arrives in a country devastated by gangs, in search of respite.
Crossed by colorism, Haiti remains culturally different from other countries where Kenya is used to intervening.
“The Kenyans have black skin, but I believe they are all white people sent by the United States. And, I don’t like white people,” declares Violette Exume, a 35-year-old mother, who left her home in Delmas to come and watch the landing.
The lady hopes for a respite from the mission, but fears that the bad practices of past interventions will be repeated.
“I want to be able to live peacefully without the worry of being kidnapped,” she said. “It’s not possible to continue like this.”
Agents of the Haitian National Police (PNH) ensure traffic as senior government officials arrive at Toussaint Louverture International Airport, June 25, 2024.
On February 29, the gangs launched a violent assault on several institutions in the country.
They caused the escapes the largest attacks of the last decade in the two largest prisons in Port-au-Prince, burned and looted homes and stores, and led to internal displacement of more than half a million.
The then Prime Minister, Ariel Henry, had to resign in a letter signed in Los Angeles on March 24, 2024 after being dropped by his international partners.
Talks between different political actors, initiated in 2023 under the aegis of the Caribbean Community, resulted in the establishment of a nine-member transitional presidential council on March 11, 2024.
A new ministerial cabinet led by Prime Minister Gary Conille officially took over the country three months later.
In a video released last weekend, one of the country’s most powerful gang leaders, Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier, appealed to the Prime Minister for “dialogue”.
In response, the head of government asked the gangs to lay down their arms and recognize the authority of the state “before any other arrangements” in a press conference on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Garry Conille at a press conference with senior Kenyan executives, including the head of the delegation, Monica Juma, at the Prime Minister’s Office, June 25, 2024.
“It’s no longer a film,” said a biker near Toussaint Louverture airport yesterday. Tell Barbecue that we will come to dialogue with weapons,” he added.
The head of the Kenyan delegation, Monica Juma, speaking during the press conference held on June 25, 2024 at the Prime Minister’s Office.
Par Widlore Mérancourt, Wethzer Piercin et Jérôme Wendy Norestyl
Cover image: The first contingent of Kenyan officers of the Multinational Security Support Mission (MMAS) in Haiti is about to land on the tarmac of Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince , Tuesday June 25, 2024.
The photos are from Jean Feguens Regala/AyiboPost.
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