A Kenyan court on Friday (January 26) blocked the government's “unconstitutional, illegal and invalid”
decision
to deploy a thousand police officers to Haiti, plagued by gang violence, as part of a UN-backed mission.
This decision marks a halt to the highly anticipated multinational force to try to stem the growing chaos in this small Caribbean state, where gang violence has left nearly 5,000 dead, including more than 2,700 civilians, in 2023, according to a report Tuesday from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Faced with increasingly pressing calls from the Haitian government and the UN, Kenya had agreed to lead this force of 2,500 to 2,600 men, hoped for
"during the first quarter of 2024"
, according to the UN deputy special representative. in Haiti.
But this decision, validated by the Kenyan parliament on November 16, sparked strong protest in this East African country.
Opponent Ekuru Aukot had notably appealed to the Nairobi High Court, arguing that this mission was unconstitutional because it was not based on any law or treaty.
“The National Security Council has no mandate to deploy national police officers outside Kenya
,” said Judge Enock Chacha Mwita.
“Such a
decision contravenes the Constitution and the law and is therefore unconstitutional, illegal and invalid
,” he added.
On Thursday, the Haitian Minister of Foreign Affairs once again urged the rapid sending of reinforcements to the island.
“Every day that passes without this much-hoped-for support is one day too many that we live in gang hell
,” Jean Victor Généus declared before the UN Security Council.
“Mission for Humanity”
Kenya has already participated in several peacekeeping operations in neighboring countries (DRC, Somalia) and in other parts of the world (Liberia, East Timor, former Yugoslavia, etc.).
The authorities in Nairobi had come under strong criticism since announcing their decision to send police officers to Haiti, a highly unstable and dangerous country.
The High Court's decision is a setback for the Kenyan authorities.
President William Ruto said this deployment was a
“mission for humanity”
in a country ravaged, according to him, by colonialism.
According to the UN Security Council resolution adopted in October by 13 votes in favor and 2 abstentions (China and Russia) after difficult negotiations, this non-UN
“multinational security support mission”
was planned for
“a initial period of twelve months
, with a reassessment after nine months.
The resolution also called on the future mission to
“take appropriate measures regarding wastewater management”
to prevent the spread of diseases.
A recommendation probably intended to reassure Haitians who have very bad memories of the last international force deployed on their territory.
Blue helmets from the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (Minustah), present from 2004 to 2017, had in fact brought cholera, leading to an epidemic that caused more than 10,000 deaths.
This episode partly explains why the future force will not be created under the UN flag.
In a context of terror, of residents forced to flee or hide, the country is experiencing one of the
“worst”
food crises in the world, the UN report deplored on Tuesday.