UNITED NATIONS, CMC—The United Nations High Commissioner’s Designated Expert on Human Rights, William O’Neill, said Tuesday that he believes solving the security crisis in Haiti is “doable” but would also require properly supplying law enforcement agencies and having neighboring countries do their part.
“We’re talking about 2,500, maybe 3,000 well-trained and equipped international police. It’s doable,” O’Neill told a UN press briefing.
Last month, the United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, addressed the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) summit in Barbados and said he intends to present to the United Nations Security Council a new initiative aimed at supporting security and stability in Haiti.
“I intend to present to the Security Council a proposal that is very similar to the one that we have given for Somalia, in which the UN assumes the responsibility for the structural and logistical expenditures that are necessary to put the force in place and the salaries of the force are paid through the trust fund that already exists.
“And if the Security Council will accept this proposal, we will have the conditions to finally have an effective force to defeat the gangs in Haiti and create the conditions for democracy,” Guterres said.
Haiti is facing a crisis following the assassination in July 2021 of the then president Jovenel Moise. Criminal gangs are seeking to take complete control of the capital, Port au Prince, and have launched several attacks, killing women and children, among others.
In 2023, the UN Security Council passed a resolution for a Kenya-based Multinational Security Support Mission, which would combat gang violence and restore stability in the country.
O’Neill told reporters that the fight against the gang’s violence has displaced over one million people, and “thousands more have been displaced in just the last few weeks.
“They have nowhere to go,” he said, noting that “the desperate are turning against the more hopeless.
He said in the makeshift camps, hunger and sexual violence are widespread, and “for many, it is a matter of survival.
“Unity and solidarity must guide political action at all levels in the population’s interest. These must be the guiding principles for all Haitian actors to ensure security…and the state’s survival.
But he said the fight against impunity and corruption “are significant obstacles to dismantling gangs.
“The Haitian state must, therefore, prioritize the fight against these two scourges. The fight against the gangs must also be conducted in strict compliance with international human rights law, particularly the right to life,” said O’Neill, a lawyer specializing in humanitarian, human rights, and refugee law.
“No circumstances, however exceptional, can justify violating human rights. The international community must act without delay to implement the commitments it has already made, particularly regarding the sanctions regime, to the arms embargo and the substantial reinforcement of the Multinational Security Support Mission system”.
O’Neill said the UN support office could help supply key equipment such as spare parts, helicopters, and adequate vehicles for navigating Haiti’s capital and mountainous rural terrain.
He is calling on countries, particularly the United States, to do more to prevent the flow of illegal guns to criminal groups, noting that Haiti’s border police are not equipped to prevent their entry.
“There’s not a gun or bullet that’s manufactured in Haiti. If you stop the flow, the gangs will eventually run out of ammunition. That’s a quicker, faster, safer way to dismantle them than going in and fighting them.”
O’Neill is also urging Washington, the Dominican Republic, The Bahamas, and the Turks and Caicos Islands to stop deporting migrants back to Haiti.
“You cannot guarantee a dignified safe return, which is required under international law,” he said, noting that the “risk of the capital falling under gang control is palpable.
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