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This week, the United
Nations Independent Expert on Human Rights, Michel Forst, was
visiting to evaluate the situation in Haiti, and the UN Security
Council also sent a delegation. They were greeted by Haitians
around the country demonstrating to protest abuses by UN
soldiers and demanding the UN’s immediate and unconditional
departure.
On Feb. 9 in the northwestern
town of Gonaïves, hundreds of people marched in the streets
against the presence of UN occupation troops in Haiti. The
demonstrators accused two Pakistani soldiers of the United
Nations Mission to Stabilize Haiti (MINUSTAH) of raping a
14-year-old boy named Roody Jean on Jan. 20. The angry
demonstrators cursed the UN troops and vowed they would remain
mobilized until the UN occupation force leaves Haiti.
A MINUSTAH patrol which found
itself on the march’s itinerary provoked the angry protesters by
firing shots in the air in an apparent attempt to intimidate
them. Some protesters threw rocks at the soldiers.
The case of Roody Jean is just
one more in a string of alleged sexual assaults by UN soldiers,
and it has forced the Haitian government to finally break its
complicit silence. Justice Minister Michel Brunache, on behalf
of the government, sent a letter to MINUSTAH’s civilian head,
Mariano Fernandez, to express the government’s concern about
MINUSTAH’s pattern of sexual abuse of Haitian minors. The
Haitian government demanded that justice be done in accordance
with legal and contractual provisions governing the relationship
between Haiti and the UN.
On Feb. 8, the Haitian Senate
unanimously passed a resolution requesting that the Pakistani UN
soldiers accused of raping Roody Jean be tried in Haitian
courts. In the resolution, the Senate recommended lifting the
immunity of soldiers accused by witnesses, the police, and
public outcry as perpetrators of rape. According to the
resolution, in cases of rape, the law of the place of the crime
(territorial jurisdiction or
ratione loci) must prevail.
Sen. Youri Latortue, who
sponsored the resolution, said that from Jan. 18, 2005 to Jan.
31, 2012, there have been 14 cases of abuse by MINUSTAH soldiers
in Haiti. Rape, sexual harassment, statutory rape, forced
sodomy, and torture are serious offenses against human dignity
and are degrading and dehumanizing acts.
The Senate has already passed a
resolution calling for MINUSTAH’s withdrawal by October 2012,
when its current mandate ends. Some Haitians have argued that
the Parliament doesn’t need to get too many resolutions to expel
the UN forces which have illegally occupied Haiti since June
2004. They need only cancel the agreement of Jul. 29, 2004
authorizing MINUSTAH, signed by the former de facto Prime
Minister Gérard Latortue and UN representative Adama Guindo.
Meanwhile, despite the flagrant
violation of Haitians’ human rights by UN troops, Michel Forst
declined to speak out on these many cases. “Listen, this is
an issue that is addressed in every press conference, I know,
because I read the notes of MINUSTAH’s weekly press briefings,”
Forst said in a press conference. “This is a subject of great
concern to Haitians and the Haitian press, but the mandate I was
given is a mandate that is framed by a decision of the UN
Council of Human Rights, and that mandate does not cover the
MINUSTAH. Nevertheless, I am an Independent Expert which means
that I have freedom of speech. I have the freedom to say what I
think. Even if I cannot speak publicly in front of you now, know
that I have expressed myself on this subject at various levels
within the UN system. But it is not for me to say here what I
said to members of MINUSTAH. I think a formal response was given
and MINUSTAH’s position is recalled each time. Immunity does not
mean impunity. I am aware of claims that were made and I think
the MINUSTAH spokesperson has already responded to this point. I
think she has a written document that gives MINUSTAH’s position
on this issue.”
A 15-member Security Council
delegation arrived in Haiti on Monday, Feb. 13 for a three day
visit to assess the implementation of MINUSTAH’s mandate, the
political and security situations, the living conditions of
those still affected by the Jan. 12, 2010 earthquake, and aid
from the international community. The delegation consists of
representatives from the Council’s five permanent members (USA,
China, France, UK, Russia) as well as non-permanent members.
The delegation is headed by the
U.S. Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice, and also includes
Ambassadors Agshin Mehdiyev of Azerbaijan, Yang Tao of China,
Néstor Osorio of Colombia, Gérard Araud of France, Peter Wittig
of Germany, Gert Rosenthal of Guatemala, Hardeep Singh Puri of
India, Mohammed Loulichki of Morocco, Raza Bashir Tarar of
Pakistan, José Filipe Moraes Cabral of Portugal, Nikita Y.
Zhukov of Russia, Baso Sangqu of South Africa, Kodjo Menan of
Togo (currently the Security Council’s president), and Philip
Parham of the United Kingdom.
On their arrival in
Port-au-Prince, the ambassadors gave a press conference at
MINUSTAH’s Log Base, located on the Port-au-Prince airport. The
delegation gave the following statement.
“In Haiti, the Security
Council intends to reiterate its continued support to the
government and people of Haiti in their efforts to rebuild their
country, to consolidate peace, democracy and stability, to
promote recovery and sustainable development, and to evaluate
implementation of its relevant resolutions, in particular,
Resolution 2012 (2011), and examine the progress made by the
Haitian government, with assistance from the international
community, principally MINUSTAH, in efforts to address the
interconnected challenges in the areas of stability and
security, including strengthening the rule of law and the
protection of civilians; economic and social development,
institutional reform and governance, border management and human
rights.”
It is said that the Council
came to Haiti on its own, without the government’s invitation,
but in coordination with Haitian authorities and UN
representatives in the field. During its stay, the delegation
will meet with President Michel Martelly, Prime Minister Garry
Conille, parliamentarians, and civil society representatives.
The delegation will also visit
the towns of Miragoâne and Léogâne, UN troop bases, and IDP
camps filled with earthquake victims.
Haitian popular groups
organized demonstrations to demand the immediate withdrawal of
occupation forces, and justice and reparation for all victims of
UN soldiers, particularly those affected by the UN-imported
cholera epidemic. As the Security Council delegation met with
the press at the Log Base on their arrival in Haiti on Feb. 13,
dozens of anti-occupation demonstrators protested outside waving
signs that read: “Occupation is contrary to Democracy!
MINUSTAH = Cholera! MINUSTAH = Interference! MINUSTAH = sexual
violence! MINUSTAH = human rights violations! UN Security
Council, Haiti does not need an occupation! MINUSTAH must leave!”
The next day, hundreds of
people marched in Port-au-Prince against MINUSTAH. The event
began at Fort National in front of the Brazilian contingent’s
base while the Security Council delegation was inside. The UN
soldiers were very threatening to the animated, angry
demonstrators. The protesters then marched to the Champ de Mars
past the Ministries of Justice and Social Affairs before ending
up at the north gate of the National Palace. |
