LThe involuntary exile of Ariel Henry has not changed anything. Haiti continues to flounder in insecurity and the population to be destitute. The new authorities are having a hard time settling effectively into the ministerial chairs. The President of the CPT, Edgard Leblanc Fils, constantly supervised by his musketeers of Presidential Advisors, is going around in circles. He knows that he is being spied on and is under the vigilance of other stakeholders who have an election to win.
The formation of the government was a headache for Ariel Henry’s successor. If Dr. Garry Conille, certainly placed by the international community, particularly the United States, had the latitude to form his ministerial cabinet, nevertheless he did not have all the free fields as it was for his distant predecessor, the late Gérard Latortue. The late provisional President of the Republic, Me Boniface Alexandre, was only a simple President of the Court of Cassation, he did not have the political stature of these 9 presidential advisers.
As a result, between these two interim heads of government – Latortue and Conille – the political margin is quite wide even if both had been creatures of the international community that knew that it had in front of it devious politicians, old hands of Haitian politics, old war horses who are not afraid of anything and are capable of screwing up everything, even if it means losing everything. From this reality, Prime Minister Garry Conille had taken time, a lot of time, before finding his mark and ended up forming the government with a minimal agreement from the CPT after tough negotiations on each of the recipients.
A maneuver that ultimately delayed the arrival of foreign troops, because governmental stability has always been the sine qua non condition of all participants in the mission before the White House gives the go-ahead. «GO» for the deparquement. Even the NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) who supported from the beginning the sending of a multinational force to Haiti, were quite cautious.
They also believed that political stability was needed to allow the Haitian authorities to manage the security issue in the country. An NGO like the International Crisis Group had stressed this from the start. But, with the process about to end, its leaders are returning to the charge to warn the two main stakeholders in this whole affair: the international community and, of course, the Haitian government. One of the leaders of the International Crisis Group, Diego Da Rin, was the guest of a Haitian media outlet on Tuesday, May 21, 2024. He did not mince his words when defining the role of the mission that was about to be deployed on Haitian soil.
During his radio intervention Magik9 In Port-au-Prince on May 21, Diego Da Rin was trying to say that “The mandate of the mission (MMAS) is ad hoc: to support the police to help them plan and conduct operations against gangs, as well as to protect critical infrastructure in order to restore security and create an environment conducive to holding elections. The security mission is not coming to solve Haiti’s problems; it is coming to help the police restore security. It is crucial that at the same time the Haitian authorities, with the support of the international community, address the other crises that overlap with the security crisis (…) The MMAS will allow a certain respite in terms of security in Haiti. But in parallel with the efforts to restore security, it will take a huge amount of effort and collaboration from the international community to allow the transitional government and then the elected authorities to address the various problems that are added to the security crisis. We have every reason to believe that the mission will, this time, begin to be deployed. A small group of about ten senior Kenyan officials, including the force commander, arrived in Port-au-Prince to assess the state of play and the readiness of this base under construction to house the mission personnel. This first group is preparing for the start of the deployment of Kenyan forces. A Caribbean contingent, trained by the Canadian Armed Forces in Jamaica, is ready to be deployed, a little over 300 officers (…) We strongly recommend with this change of situation, that the threat of operation be used as a means of deterrence. It is a question of presenting the personnel, the machines and the equipment, superior to those of the gangs, not to provoke confrontations, but to encourage the gangs to adopt a non-confrontational position in the face of a much more powerful force. Of course, we cannot speak of amnesty. The gangs have committed, for years, crimes of such atrocity against the population. Haitians are categorical, they are opposed to any attempt at amnesty in favor of gangs and their sponsors.
Photo : PCS
But at the very least, the Haitian authorities must consider the fact that eliminating or arresting the main gang leaders will not ensure that these groups will not emerge in the future, especially since the judicial system is quite dysfunctional. So, it will not be able to process hundreds, if not thousands of cases once the PNH, with the help of the MMAS, begins to arrest gang members (…).
On May 25, 2024, when he was due to leave the United States, President Ruto, who was in great demand on the Kenyan issue in Haiti, had provided some information that suggested that the intervention was indeed delayed for various reasons. But he was more specific in his interview with the very famous English television The BBC World. In order to remove all doubt and speculation about the date of the deployment, President Joe Biden’s guest wanted to say this: A high-level planning team was already in Haiti and they met with the police to make arrangements before the deployment of Kenyan troops. This will give us an idea of the situation on the ground, the capabilities available and the infrastructure that has been put in place.
Once everything is in place on the ground to start the mission, the Kenyan forces will be able to deploy. At the moment, we are seeing some shortcomings in terms of American logistics: lack of armored vehicles to move the troops, delays in deliveries, lack of radios and communication equipment, weapons and other things that the mission needs from the start. In addition, the mission must also have helicopters to evacuate potential wounded from the country, most of the hospitals are dysfunctional or closed in Haiti, finally, the buildings to house the Mission and its personnel, according to reports, are still being built by the United States and are about 70% complete.
It is incomprehensible! At the very moment when the Head of State made this statement, he knew that the United States had promised him a certain amount of military equipment for the Kenyan army. Indeed, just after the joint press conference held in Washington, a statement from the White House dated May 25, 2024 announced that the United States, in support of the Kenyan government, had donated to the Republic of Kenya 150 armored vehicles and 16 helicopters of different types. 8 multipurpose MD-500s for maneuver, attack and assault and 8 other light and fast Huey models for surveillance. All this military equipment should be delivered at the end of September, beginning of October of this year.
Evil tongues say that while Washington was giving Nairobi gifts of weapons, Port-au-Prince was wondering which way to turn, as the city’s police, lacking adequate equipment, were fleeing the advance of armed groups that are better equipped with weapons and ammunition than the police, whose only hope from government authorities remains: waiting for the arrival of the first military contingents of the Multinational Mission.
A security support mission ordered precisely by Kenya, which has already gleaned a lot from Washington since its leaders agreed to lead the international coalition. In the last days of May, nothing had been done. The Kenyans and others elsewhere, even if they were at the forefront in Jamaica, were patient. They waited with rifles at their feet for the «GO» Uncle Sam’s request for Kenya to launch the landing armada. The first two weeks of June 2024 were like the previous month. Everyone was putting forward an arrival date. But, in truth, no one knew anything. No one was in on the secret. Only the White House, the State Department and the Pentagon held the key to the deployment. In the meantime, the new Haitian authorities, the CPT and the new head of the interim government, Garry Conille, were also growing impatient and biting their nails. Lacking resources, they could do nothing to restore public order, not only in the capital and its outskirts: Croix-des-Bouquets, Carrefour, Mariani, la Plaine, Torcelle, etc. completely under the control of the gangs, but also in the department of Artibonite where the gangs had chased away all the police officers from the commune of Petite-Rivière-de-l’Artibonite and set fire to the town’s police station.
The first two weeks of June 2024 were, as they say in diplomatic jargon or language, two blank weeks, that is, two weeks during which not much happened. Certainly, on Saturday 1is June 2024, the Kenyan head of state, William Ruto, had revealed that he had received the day before the Report of the last assessment mission that had visited Haiti during the month of May with a view to the deployment of the mission. But, on his X account where he made the announcement, he did not give any other information that could suggest that the departure of the troops was imminent.
William Ruto simply wrote: “Given the leadership role that Kenya will assume in the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti (MMAS) mandated by the United Nations Security Council, I have received a comprehensive assessment from the team that undertook an assessment mission to verify the readiness of our officers for deployment. I am confident that the mandate of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2699 (2023) will be fulfilled.”. The Kenyan President had nevertheless indicated that at the time of taking note of the Report, he was in the company of his Minister of Defense, Mr. Aden Duale, who supervises the operation from Nairobi. Furthermore, William Ruto had suggested that the two Republics – Haiti and Kenya – should agree on the regulations of engagement and on the status of the mission before the arrival of the first Kenyan troops in Port-au-Prince.
In the same week, the Dominican authorities, who were perhaps better informed than their Haitian counterparts about the progress of the mission, had decided, according to Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, to reinforce the military forces on the border between the two countries in view of the imminent deployment of foreign military personnel on Haitian territory. An additional 1,100 Dominican soldiers had been deployed on various sections of the border. Jimani, Dajabon, Pedernales and Elias Pinas saw their numbers increase during the first week of June, according to General Carlos Antonio Fernandez Onofre, Chief of General Staff of the Dominican Armed Forces. Furthermore, as part of strengthening Kenya’s leadership role in the mission, Washington has promoted the integration of this East African state into the Organization of American States (OAS). Officially, it was Nairobi that had requested an observer seat in this hemispheric organization, far, very far from the African continent, in order, according to Kenyan leaders, to better work and collaborate with other states on the American continent in the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti. A request that was accepted without much ado on Wednesday, June 5, 2024, during a Special Session of the OAS Permanent Council at the request of Kenya.
In short, since June 5, 2024, William Ruto’s country has become an observer member of the Organization of American States. With this status as a member of this Pan-American organization, Kenya will be able to benefit from all legal, diplomatic, military and financial support to carry out its mission in the Caribbean and Latin America. Faced with the evidence of the landing, it was the NGO Amnesty International that alerted, on Tuesday, June 4, 2024, on the lack of transparency and guarantees in terms of human rights of the MMAS. According to the leaders of this NGO known worldwide for its fight for human rights, the promoters of the mission do not provide enough information on this aspect.
However, according to Amnesty International’s Americas Director, Ana Piquer, “It is imperative to ensure that any action taken by this multinational mission, led by Kenya and supported by the United States and other countries, is strictly in accordance with international human rights law, as requested by the United Nations Security Council (…)
In addition to the assessment procedures to which they must submit, mission personnel should receive comprehensive training, before deployment and in the field, on core United Nations principles, human rights law, prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse, protection of civilians and protection of children. It is also essential that an independent mechanism be in place to receive complaints, investigate all allegations of human rights violations, decide on reparations and refer individual cases to a Haitian civilian court, or any jurisdiction of a personnel-contributing country, for investigation and, where appropriate, prosecution.
While the Director of the Americas Section, Ana Piquer, played the role of human rights whistleblower before the arrival of the Kenyan police and military and other nationalities of the mission, the issue of the Haitian crisis, in particular the deployment of foreign troops in Haiti, was invited to Italy where the meeting of the G7, the Group of the seven richest countries in the world, was being held.
During this G7 Summit held from June 13 to 15, 2024, where the Kenyan Head of State, William Ruto, was also invited among the «Grands», He did not forget to thank France for its contribution and support to the mission, including Algeria, which promised its financial contribution. On his X account, the Kenyan President said: I am pleased that France supports Kenya in the Kenya-led United Nations mission in Haiti. We also thank Algeria for its financial support to the Kenya-led United Nations security mission in Haiti. On the other hand, in Switzerland, where the international community met to discuss peace in Ukraine, Haiti was also there. On Sunday, June 16, 2024, in fact, the main countries supporting the Ukrainian government in the war against that of the Russian Federation held a Summit in the small town of Lucerne with a view to finding the best ways to end this conflict while dreaming of a victory for kyiv over Moscow.
On the sidelines of this summit meeting, according to a press release issued by the Office of the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, the situation in Haiti and particularly the multinational mission had been at the center of important debates with the man who has become, since UN Resolution 2699, the darling of the West: President William Ruto who was invited to Lucerne for the occasion. For the Canadian Prime Minister, ” Kenya’s leadership is beyond doubt to lead the multinational mission in Haiti and Ottawa reiterates its willingness to support while expressing its enthusiasm to continue its cooperation with Nairobi.” During the same week, rumors were flying in all directions in the Haitian capital when the public learned that a delegation of the Haitian National Police had left for Kenya with a view to strengthening ties between the two police institutions.
(To be continued)
