Kenya's High Court ruled on Friday that the plan to send police officers to Haiti to lead a UN-approved mission was unconstitutional, casting doubt on the future of an initiative aimed at tackling gang violence in the country. Caribbean nation. Haiti first requested help in 2022, when gang violence increased, but could not find a country willing to lead a security mission.
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A historic ruling by an African nation opposing a UN-led international security mission. Kenya, which would lead the deployment of police officers to Haiti to combat the rise in gang violence in the Caribbean country, is now shaking the future of the intervention.
Kenya High Court Judge Chacha Mwita concluded that under Kenyan law, authorities They could only deploy officers abroad if there was a “reciprocal agreement” with the host governmenta situation that is not met with Haiti.
Any further action or measure taken by any state body or state official in pursuance of such decision contravenes the Constitution and the law and is therefore unconstitutional, illegal and invalid, Mwita ruled.
The Kenyan government, led by William Ruto, had hoped to deploy officers to Haiti this month after the UN Security Council approved the mission in October last year.
But that same month, an opposition party questioned the Ruto government's decision to send 1,000 officers to address the Haitian security crisis. Thus, the case reached judicial authorities that led to the ruling of the Superior Court this Friday. The Government has not yet commented whether it will appeal the ruling.
Ruto had decided in July 2023 to lead the intervention mission in Haiti, arguing that he was doing so in solidarity with a sister nation. Following Kenya's initiative, other countries such as the Bahamas, Jamaica, and Antigua and Barbuda also committed to participating.
Many governments have been cautious about supporting the unelected administration of Haiti's interim prime minister, Ariel Henry. Additionally, previous interventions in the Caribbean nation have been accused of human rights abuses. A high risk at the political level for any country that assumes leadership of a mission in Haiti.
The escalation of violence in Haiti
The UN international mission in Haiti is reeling just after the 2023 violence figures were released. Last year, almost 5,000 people were killed and some 200,000 were displaced from their homes.
According to the UN, 4,789 people were killed in gang violence in Haiti in 2023, which represents an increase of 119% compared to 2022.
Haiti has been living in a turbulent political scenario since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse on July 7, 2021. An act of political violence that demonstrated the reach of gangs in the country, which are increasingly gaining ground thanks to the acquisition of weapons, including more sophisticated than those of the Haitian Army.
The head of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Ghada Waly, warned on Thursday about a “vicious circle” of arms trafficking to Haiti and increasingly powerful gangs, fueling internal conflict and worsening violence throughout the Caribbean.
It is more important than ever to take all possible measures to prevent illicit flows, Waly told a UN Security Council meeting, stating that arms trafficking and gang activity feed each other.
This recent UNODC report found that the majority of illegal firearms seized in Haiti came from the United States, the main country that has proposed international interventions in the Caribbean nation.
US Deputy Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood said “more needs to be done” to hold gangs and their sponsors accountable. But he did not specifically mention the connection to the United States.
With Reuters, AP and local media
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