UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has expressed alarm at the "rapidly deteriorating security situation" in Haiti and called for more funding for the planned international police mission, to be lead by Kenya.
Haiti's capital was largely shut down Monday with residents only venturing out for essentials, reporters witnessed, as authorities imposed a state of emergency and a curfew after a weekend attack on a prison freed thousands of inmates.
As the latest crisis spiraled, Prime Minister Ariel Henry was expected to return to the country after a trip to Kenya to push for the deployment of a UN-backed multinational police mission.
The mission - initially approved in October by the UN Security Council for one year - had envisioned Kenyan police on the offensive with their Haitian counterparts, who are outnumbered and outgunned by gang members.
The UN says the deployment of this international mission is "very urgent".
Arnaud Royer is the Representative in Haiti for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), led by Volker Turk.
No other option
Royer told RFI that Turk has been calling for any form of international support for Haiti for the past two years.
"Similar calls come from the local population too. Because there is no other option. The gang violence is now concentrated in the capital, Port-au-Prince, a city of 4 to 5 million inhabitants. It has become one of the most acutely violent situations in an urban environment in the world."
Last year 5,000 homicides were reported in Haiti, more as many as in 2022, according to a UN report published last month.
"People get killed by bullets even inside their homes in Port-au-Prince," Royer says.
"Others live in makeshift camps for displaced people. And there is zero boot on the ground, nobody to protect civilians. You can argue that the mission is too small or problematic, but it is absolutely urgent to bring it to Haiti, and to be more serious about the arms embargo."
Five contributors, two African
The upsurge in violence over the weekend came on the heels of a visit by Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry to Kenya on Friday, to sign a "reciprocal" agreement with Kenya's leader President William Ruto.
Ruto said he and Henry had "discussed the next steps to enable the fast-tracking of the deployment", but it was not immediately clear whether the agreement would counter a Nairobi court ruling in January that branded the deployment "illegal".
"I take this opportunity to reiterate Kenya's commitment to contribute to the success of this multinational mission. We believe this is a historic duty because peace in Haiti is good for the world as a whole," Ruto said in a statement.
Ruto said last year that he was ready to provide up to 1,000 personnel, an offer welcomed by the United States and other nations that had ruled out putting their own forces on the ground.
Five countries have told the United Nations of their intent to join the Kenya-led mission: the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin and Chad.
The call for restoring security to Haiti is urgent and Kenya has stepped up to this duty. H.E. President @WilliamsRuto is leading the world in responding to this call, without further delay. pic.twitter.com/qw0Z8PutMZ-- Amb. Dr. Monica Juma (@AmbMonicaJuma) March 1, 2024
Unpopular decision for some
Opposition politician Ekuru Aukot, who filed the petition against Kenyan troop deployment, told French news agency AFP on Friday that he would lodge a case "for contempt of court".
"William Ruto does not care about the rule of law or the constitution of this country," he said. "We will question the validity of this secretive agreement," he added.
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In Haiti, many citizens have described the idea of any new foreign mission as "imperialism".
Others point out that "the Kenyan police have a long history of abuse and violations," as Martin Mavenjina of the Kenya Human Rights Commission told RFI recently.
In the face of criticism, Ruto had described the Kenyan undertaking as a "mission for humanity", in step with its long record of contributing to peacekeeping missions abroad.
Haiti, one of the world's poorest nations, has been in turmoil for years, and the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise plunged the country further into chaos.
No elections have taken place since 2016 and the presidency remains vacant.
Protesters have demanded Henry's resignation in line with a political deal that required Haiti to hold polls and for him to cede power to newly elected officials by February of this year.
(with newswires)
