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EXTENDING HAITI
MISSION, SECURITY COUNCIL
BACKS CAMPAIGN AGAINST GANGS
(transcrição em português
Link)
Extending the mandate
of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Haiti
(MINUSTAH) by another eight months, the Security
Council today endorsed its recently stepped-up campaign
against armed criminal gangs and called for the
operations to continue.
In a resolution adopted unanimously,
UN - SC 1743,
Council members agreed to extend the force - comprised
of almost 8,400 troops and police - through 15 October
to help establish stability in Haiti, the poorest
country in the western hemisphere.
The resolution specifically
requested that MINUSTAH continue the increased tempo
of operations in support of the HNP [Haitian National
Police] against armed gangs as deemed necessary
to restore security, notably in Port-au-Prince,"
the capital.
Since December, MINUSTAH has
undertaken a series of military operations aimed
at dislodging the country's gangs from areas that
they control and use to terrorize the local population,
carrying out kidnappings, thefts, rapes and drug-running
activities.
The problem is most acute
in the densely populated slum districts of Port-au-Prince
such as Cité Soleil and Martissant, where
some of the gangs have been operating for years,
long before MINUSTAH arrived in 2004.
Last Friday, in the most recent
major operation, more than 700 UN troops entered
the Boston area of Cité Soleil to try to
dismantle the band of a gang chief. While he was
able to escape, other members were arrested and
large amounts of weaponry and ammunition were seized.
One person was killed and two UN peacekeepers were
injured.
David Wimhurst, a spokesperson
for the Mission, told reporters today that the operations
would keep going "until we have really dislodged"
the gangs. He said the gangs' activities in Port-au-Prince
were holding the rest of the country hostage, soaking
up headlines and deterring outsiders from undertaking
investment and development.
"Peacekeeping in Haiti
is a Band-aid. The cure to what ails Haiti is development,"
he said, noting that whenever MINUSTAH troops or
police units enter a former gang area, they establish
a presence and encourage the Haitian state to follow
so that the area can stabilize and locals' living
standards can improve.
MINUSTAH is conducting military-style
operations because the HNP does not yet have close
to enough qualified officers to carry out operations
or to prepare files against suspects that are of
a standard that can be brought before a court.
The situation is made worse
by what Mr. Wimhurst described as the "pretty
lamentable" state of the Haitian judiciary
and penal system. Corruption is widespread among
judges, who are paid about $200 a month, jails are
overcrowded and individuals are often detained for
months without charge.
But Mr. Wimhurst said Haiti
had posted important gains in the past two years,
including the successful staging of local elections
last year, and that the Mission's work had to be
seen as a long-term project.
He said that MINUSTAH had
been the subject of a particularly virulent misinformation
campaign orchestrated both inside and outside Haiti
by supporters of former president Jean-Bertrand
Aristide.
UN peacekeepers have been
accused of deliberately targeting civilians and
of firing from helicopters during operations, both
of which were untrue, he said, adding that MINUSTAH
made strenuous efforts to investigate every genuine
allegation that its troop had killed or injured
a civilian.
He added that, aside from
the gang members, locals in Cité Soleil and
Martissant were largely supportive of the recent
wave of aggressive operations, and had applauded
UN troops as they patrolled following last Friday's
operation in Boston.
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