Posted on 09/08/2021 1:50:31 PM PDT by Kaslin
Kofi Annan once said, "Often we mistake stability, in terms of security and economic activity, to mean a country is doing well. We forget the third and important pillar: rule of law and respect for human rights."
I was reminded of this quote following the recent shocking assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise, which is the culmination of escalating violence enabled in part by the departure of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti in October of 2017. Since that time, the gangs in Haiti have grown in size, violence and access to military-grade weapons. The gangs overwhelmed the flagging police force on numerous occasions, stealing their weapons and armored vehicles, and murdering and kidnapping the citizens of Haiti with impunity.
The government of Haiti, already destabilized by the dissolution of Parliament in January of 2020, has been entirely unable to restore the rule of law. This instability was exacerbated by the death of the leader of the Supreme Court, the first in the line of succession to the President, just before the President's death. Furthermore, the Prime Minister, appointed after Parliament's dissolution, reportedly has yet to be constitutionally confirmed. This leaves Haiti with no apparent constitutionally supported way forward to be properly self-governed until presidential elections are held in the fall.
The first lady, who sustained injuries in the attack, stated from her Miami hospital bed that her husband's political enemies orchestrated the assassination. This fracture in the government reflects the current state of division that lies within the country. One of the opposing members, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, returned from Cuba following the assassination. His political party, Lavalas, has been frequently implicated in the past as significant disrupters of the Haitian polity.
The dramatically increasing violence stands as a counterpoint to the relative peace seen during the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) from 2004 to 2017. Violent crime was kept in check overall during that time. After the departure of the United Nations stabilization force, however, everything changed. Three gang-led massacres occurring in the La Saline, Bel Air, and Cité Soleil suburbs of Port-au-Prince from November 2018 to July 2020 killed 206 civilians, some of whom were beheaded, and many more were injured and raped. During these atrocities, the Haitian police not only didn't intervene, but some reports indicate that they participated. Now, without a functioning government, these gangs proliferate and further degrade the human rights of the general public.
The weaponry that the gangs have at their disposal is stunning. While fully automatic submachine guns are commonplace in Haiti, the gangs now possess Russian-made tripod-mounted, belt-fed medium machine guns. These weapons of war are daunting and carry firepower capable of shredding a vehicle.
The gangs in Haiti are coalescing into larger better-funded organizations that control vast swaths of the country. Now, with better communications and cooperation, they are able to launch more destructive coordinated attacks. As time passes, the ability of the police to neutralize them becomes less and less likely.
The dissolution of the government, the ascendency of the gangs, and the loss of the rule of law combine to threaten the sovereignty of Haiti. Despite the many published opinion pieces calling for the return of theUN stabilization force to prevent the very turmoil that we see presently, the worst-case scenario has happened. I pray it’s not too late to turn the tide, if the UN would finally act.
Clearly, the UN is the appropriate body to stabilize Haiti and restore the rule of law. Article One of the UN's Charter states that "The Purposes of the United Nations are: To maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace, and to bring about by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace…"
The Haitians are our neighbors, and the people of Haiti are suffering greatly under the burden of this tyranny of violence. It is incumbent upon the UN to act quickly and decisively to assist the nation of Haiti in the restoration of its proper sovereignty.
What Haiti really needs is for the entire UN to move there so that they can have an industry.
Haiti needs to be sterilized...
I hear the Clintons need a new gig.
I thought the Clintons fixed Haiti? Oh, that’s right they simply blundered it. Never mind.
Too late for what? It is clearly already a failed state.
Sounds more like they need to just seal the place off, and when the final gang rises to the top, there’s your government.
One this Haiti needs is to find the money that’s missing from the Haiti relief fund that disappeared through the Clintons.
The UN should take them back to Africa
HIti was forever destroyed by the Duvalia family.
Pappas and Baby Doc.
Sink it in to the ocean
Turn it into an American protectorate/penal colony. Import those that speak english or have a trade they can market. The low life can be distributed throughout the french-speaking world. 25 countries. $100/mo welfare checks. Get the OAS involved. After 50-99 years give the country to the Dominican Republic. Problem solved.
“Haiti Needs the UN Stabilization Mission to Return
REALLY?
The last time the Blue Helmet scumbags from the UN were in Haiti they were in charge of giving out food. If a family did not have a yo0ung 15 to 30 year old female to pick up the food after she was raped by those f$$king animals families didn’t eat. Look it up.
C'mon. They built 4 or 5 houses there with the billions given them. Must be some nice houses.
Haiti needs to return to colonial status, under the control of a first world power, until they can build a viable socioeconomic infrastructure. The necessary elements are well known: rule of law, property rights, including deeds of ownership, enforceable contracts, functioning police and judiciary.
Maybe France should go back in. They seem to have not much else to do right now, and they already were there a couple hundred years ago.
Why the hell should they get to go first?
Yep, or ships back to Africa.
The DR is the same island, but vastly different.
All cultures are not equal.
yup... been to the DR but not the other side
DR couldn’t be much better. They have their own boat people wanting to come here.
believe me, it’s better
islanders are for the most part inbred to some extent and even more so in Haiti as no tourist industry for fresh DNA, even if it is only in hookers
the DR is poor, but not the utter shithole the other side is
Haiti is a never-filled hole that eats money and never shows any results.
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