Haiti

(Quelle: UN News) Defence ministers and military officers from Latin American countries contributing troops to the United Nations peacekeeping force in Haiti are at present visiting the Caribbean country to discuss security and other issues linked to the extension of the mission’s mandate, including strengthening the national police force. … Issues discussed including reinforcement of the national police, reform of the judicial system, strengthening legal institutions and the battle against corruption and drug trafficking. The need to promote development also figured on the agenda.

(Quelle: The Miami Herald) U.N. Secretary-General Ban-Ki-moon said Wednesday he will recommend peacekeepers stay in Haiti for at least another year and urged world donors to redouble efforts to ensure the impoverished nation does not backslide into chaos. … Despite the improved security, U.N. officials say gangs, drug trafficking and poverty are still a threat to the country and that peacekeepers will be needed at least until Preval's term ends in 2011.

(Quelle: UN News) Aiming to strengthen the economy in Haiti and promote stability there, a team from the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is calling for investment in tourism, agriculture and the textile and assembly industry. In a report presented to ECOSOC today, the Ad Hoc Advisory Group dispatched by the Council to Haiti in April also called for strengthening public institutions in order to enable Haiti to optimize the major contributions announced by donor countries in recent months.

(Quelle: UN News) Endorsing the recent efforts of the Haitian Government and the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the impoverished Caribbean country to tackle gang violence and reform the national police, the Security Council today called for further measures to improve the justice system. … The Council voiced appreciation “for the ongoing efforts by MINUSTAH in supporting the Haitian National Police (HNP) in the fight against gang violence as well as the efforts to implement the HNP reform plan, in particular the beginning of the vetting process, and encouraged further efforts to advance the reform of the justice system.”

(Quelle: UN News) The senior United Nations envoy to Haiti has congratulated the country’s people on the successful conclusion of a number of local, municipal and legislative elections which culminated a three-round process as part of broader efforts to consolidate democracy in the Caribbean country. … More than 300,000 voters in 25 communities exercised their democratic right in 69 voting centres and 770 polling stations to choose their representatives. With logistical and security support provided by MINUSTAH to the CEP and the Haitian National Police, all polling stations opened on time, allowing voters access to the polling booths, the mission said in a news release.

(Quelle: UN News) Just returned from a mission to Haiti, the leader of a team from the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) today painted a mixed picture of the Caribbean country, which has experienced greater political stability and security in recent months but still faces numerous development challenges which he said must be met through a determined international response. “Our goal is to promote recovery and stability and to ensure that Haiti receives the sustained, long-term international support that it needs,” said Ambassador John McNee of Canada. … Mr. McNee tempered his optimism with a note of caution. “In fairness, we should stress the fragility of the situation and the huge challenge. It is one thing to take on the gangs in this area – the real challenge is finding employment and economic growth that will give people incentive to take a peaceful path, not a criminal path.”

(Quelle: UN News) The United Nations Mission for the Stabilization of Haiti (MINUSTAH) today announced the arrival of nearly 100 Chinese officers, including seven women, who are serving with a Formed Police Unit (FPU) in the Caribbean country. The 95 new police, who joined a group of 30 FPU members of the same contingent that arrived last week on 4 April, brings the total number of Chinese officers in Haiti to 125. China has contributed more than 1,000 officers in Formed Police Units since the Mission was established in October 2004 after an insurgency forced then President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to go into exile.

(Quelle: UN News) The United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) has announced plans to provide security and logistical support to the Caribbean country’s Provisional Electoral Commission when it holds local mayoral and municipal elections later this month. About 300,000 voters are expected to cast their ballots on 29 April, voting for 73 delegate seats across 10 districts, MINUSTAH spokesperson Sophie Boutaud de la Combe told journalists on Thursday at the weekly press briefing in Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital. Ms. Boutaud de la Combe urged all eligible Haitians to vote in the polls, which follow successfully staged legislative and local elections last year.

(Quelle: UN News) More than 400 Haitian gang members have been arrested since the beginning of the year in operations by the Haitian National Police (HNP), backed by United Nations police and military to crack down on violent crime, UN officials reported today. “Our joint operations are increasingly successful,” UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) spokesman David Wimhurst told the UN News Service. “This is the highest rate of arrests and detentions to date.” … The local population played a vital role in many of these arrests by providing information on the whereabouts of gang members to Haitian and UN police via confidential telephone hot-lines which, though already in existence, have been increasingly used during the current crackdown.

(Quelle: UN News) Close on the heals of the capture of one of Haiti’s most notorious criminal armed gang leaders, United Nations peacekeepers and Haitian police have reported new successes in their crackdown on violent crime in Port-au-Prince, the capital, dismantling one group, arresting three dozen more suspects and seizing weapons caches. In one of the latest operations, 32 suspects were arrested in the Linteau 1 and Ti Ayiti quarters of the capital’s Cité Soleil neighbourhood, one of the violence-ridden country’s most dangerous areas, leading to the dismantling of the Blade Nazon and the seizure of arms and ammunition. The operation was launched after UN troops on patrol came under fire.