Security Council gives UN chief 30 days to come up with options on how to fight Haiti's armed gangs
Fri, Jul 14, 2023 at 12:39 PM EDT
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council asked the secretary-general on Friday to come up with options to help combat Haiti’s armed gangs, including a possible U.N. peacekeeping force and a non-U.N. multinational force.
A resolution adopted unanimously by the council asks U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to report back on “a full range” of options within 30 days to improve the security situation, including additional training for the Haitian National Police and providing support to combat illegal arms trafficking to the impoverished Caribbean nation.
It also authorizes up to 70 U.N. police and corrections advisers to scale up support and training for Haiti’s understaffed and underfunded national police force. And it “encourages” countries, especially in the Caribbean region, to respond to appeals from Haiti’s prime minister and from Guterres for the deployment of an international specialized force.
Haiti’s Prime Minister Ariel Henry sent an urgent appeal last October for “the immediate deployment of a specialized armed force, in sufficient quantity” to stop the gangs. However, more than eight months later no country has stepped up to lead such a force.
Guterres, who visited Haiti earlier this month, called last week for a robust international force to help the Haitian National Police “defeat and dismantle the gangs.”
He said the estimate by the U.N. independent expert for Haiti, William O’Neill, that up to 2,000 additional anti-gang police officers are needed is no exaggeration. O’Neill, who concluded a 10-day trip to Haiti this month, is an American lawyer who has been working on Haiti for over 30 years and helped establish the Haitian National Police in 1995.
The gangs have grown in power since the July 7, 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse and are now estimated to control up to 80% of the capital. The surge in killings, rapes and kidnappings has led to a violent uprising by civilian vigilante groups.
Compounding the gang warfare is the country’s political crisis: Haiti was stripped of all democratically elected institutions when the terms of the country’s remaining 10 senators expired in early January.
The resolution, co-sponsored by the United States and Ecuador, “strongly urges” all countries to prohibit the supply, sale or transfer of weapons to anyone supporting gang violence and criminal activities.
It reiterates the need for all Haitians, with support from the U.N. political mission known as BIHUH, to establish “a Haitian-led, Haitian-owned political process to permit the organization of free, fair and credible legislative and presidential elections.” And it calls on the Haitians “to urgently reach an agreement on a sustainable, time-bound and commonly accepted roadmap for elections.”
The resolution extends BINUH’s mandate until July 15, 2024, and also encourages the mission “to explore options to enhance the Haitian criminal justice sector in order to fight impunity.”
U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield called the resolution an important step to help the Haitian people shape their future and restore democratic order.
But she said, “we must do more,” and urged all 15 council members to join the U.S. in working with BINUH, the Haitian government and the international community to “help the Haitian people secure a more just and peaceful future.”
China’s deputy U.N. ambassador Geng Shuang reiterated Beijing’s position that the most urgent task is to stabilize the security situation and stop the flow of arms, otherwise “no amount of support for the Haitian National Police will make any difference.”
He stressed that the U.N.’s actions in Haiti over some 30 years “have shown that quick fixes implemented from the outside often fail to deliver long-term results that will help Haiti truly emerge from the crisis.”
“The United Nations should fully learn from the past,” Geng said.
RD-HAITI : Esther Dacius apprehended by the Police
July 12, 2023
On the run for fraud, forgery, breach of trust, and association of criminals, a person named Esther Dacius was apprehended by Dominican authorities and subsequently transferred to the National Police of Haiti on Saturday, July 8, 2023, following a warrant and a wanted notice issued against her.
Multiple complaints were filed in 2022 and 2023 with the Bureau of Financial and Economic Affairs against her and her husband, Marckenshy Honoré, for the aforementioned offenses.
Esther Dacius posed as a consul at the Canadian embassy, using fake websites in the name of the embassy to defraud her victims.
Marckenshy Honoré, who was actively sought by the Haitian National Police (PNH), played the role of intermediary and secretary between the victims and his wife.
Currently, Esther Dacius is in police custody, awaiting further legal proceedings.
Women's World Cup 2023: Haiti's team are 'bringing the light back' after qualifying - BBC Sport
10 July 2023
Haiti goalkeeper Kerly Theus reflects on her side's World Cup play-off win over Chile
Sign up for notifications to the latest Insight features via the BBC Sport app and find the most recent in the series here.
"Actually, can I ask something?"
Kerly Theus is a 5ft 4in goalkeeper who plays for the Haiti women's national team.
For the last 40 minutes, we have talked about her career, her country, her childhood. We have even touched on the friends she lost in the 2010 earthquake.
But all this time, something has been bubbling up inside of her, a point she has been desperate to get across.
In less than two weeks, Haiti face England, European Champions and second favourites behind the United States to win the tournament, at the Women's World Cup in Brisbane, Australia.
It is Haiti's first ever match at the competition - and for Theus, it will be the biggest of her career.
She also sees it as an opportunity: the fixture that inspires the next generation.
"Can you quote this in your article, please?" she asks. "'This message is specifically for the girls in Haiti: 'Keep pushing, keep driving and this moment, you'll have it too when it's your time'."
Theus, along with her team-mates, wants to propel her nation into the spotlight. It is her main motivator, all she can think about.
"I've been to tournaments where people said 'Haiti? What's that?'" she adds.
"The World Cup is the biggest stage. Your country, your name is publicised everywhere.
"We want the world to know about Haiti and the talent we have. Oh, and we want to get past the group stage."
Theus' journey to the World Cup began at the Ranch.
The team's base in Croix-des-Bouquets, one of Port-au-Prince's poorest suburbs, is officially called the Fifa Goal Center, but everybody knows it as 'the Ranch'.
Back in 2002, the first phase of the training complex opened, boasting an auditorium, administrative office and dormitories for players.
Today, up to 200 boys and girls aged 14 and above live, train and go to school at the former country mansion.
Theus arrived there in 2013, at the age of 14.
Initially, it was her sister who was spotted and she tagged along because it was easier than separating them.
"There was no goalkeeper in my age group," she says. "I didn't want to play in goal but I learned the mechanics - how to hold the ball, knowing when to dive, how to dive, things like that.
"It was completely different to playing on the streets. We trained every day, twice a day, no matter what.
"We had practice matches with the boys' team, it made us stronger and faster."
The players at the Ranch grew up together. In recent months, emotionally, they have drawn ever closer.
In November 2020, Yves Jean-Bart, the president of the Haitian Football Federation, was handed a lifetime ban by Fifa for alleged harassment and sexual abuse of multiple underage female footballers at the Ranch and elsewhere.
Fifa's investigation concluded he "threatened and prevented potential victims and witnesses from giving testimony" and "exercised an authoritarian regime".
Photographs from 2021 were also followed by allegations that children at the Ranch were living in unhygienic and unsafe conditions.
However, in February, Jean-Bart's suspension was overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport who found the evidence against him was "inconsistent, unclear and contradictory".
The 75-year-old has strongly denied the allegations since they were first made. Meanwhile, Fifa have filed a rare complaint against Cas' ruling.
None of the three players interviewed for this piece wanted to speak directly about the claims but all mentioned the squad's unity in the face of adversity.
"We can't control what happened but we understand we can control our reaction to it," says midfielder Danielle Etienne.
"We're not shaken by this, we're choosing not to linger on the past or negativity," adds right-back Chelsea Surpris, who spoke to BBC World Service in February.
Theus concludes: "We're tight-knit, most of the team think the same.
"Hey, we're here to show off our talent, show off our skills. Let's let that do the talking."
Haiti were ranked 55th in the world in February, 17 places below Chile
Haiti were one of the last teams to reach the World Cup, upsetting Chile in a play-off in New Zealand in February.
Additional reporting by BBC Sport's Isaac Fanin.