Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06PORTAUPRINCE1203
2006-07-06 20:03:00
SECRET//NOFORN
Embassy Port Au Prince
Cable title:  

UN SRSG MULLET ON MINUSTAH, SECURITY AND HAITI

Tags:  PREL PGOV MASS UN HA 
pdf how-to read a cable
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DE RUEHPU #1203/01 1872003
ZNY SSSSS ZZH CCY DECLAS REASONS ADX00EF8950/MSI0094 510
O 062003Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3429
INFO RUEHZH/HAITI COLLECTIVE
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 1091
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 1961
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA 0936
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM J2 MIAMI FL
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S E C R E T PORT AU PRINCE 001203 

SIPDIS

C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (DECLAS REASONS)
NOFORN

SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA/CAR
IO, DRL
S/CRS
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR
INR/IAA (BEN-YEHUDA)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/06/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV MASS UN HA
SUBJECT: UN SRSG MULLET ON MINUSTAH, SECURITY AND HAITI

Classified By: Ambassador Janet A. Sanderson for reasons
1.4 (b and d).

S E C R E T PORT AU PRINCE 001203

SIPDIS

C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (DECLAS REASONS)
NOFORN

SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA/CAR
IO, DRL
S/CRS
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR
INR/IAA (BEN-YEHUDA)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/06/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV MASS UN HA
SUBJECT: UN SRSG MULLET ON MINUSTAH, SECURITY AND HAITI

Classified By: Ambassador Janet A. Sanderson for reasons
1.4 (b and d).


1. (S) Summary. I met with UN SRSG Edmond Mullet July 2 to
discuss his views of Haiti, the security environment and
other issues. Mullet said that MINUSTAH is prepared to
take "decisive action" against the gangs when/if
President Preval agrees. He reports that an unknown
quantity of automatic weapons were smuggled into Cite Soleil
by sea two weeks ago. Mullet shares our concern about the
recent upsurge in kidnappings, speculating they are aimed
at embarrassing Preval in his first months in office. He
finds new PM Alexis "decisive, determined and a man with a
vision," but is much less taken with Preval. Mullet
expressed concern that MINUSTAH contributors, particularly
Chile and Argentina, may begin to drift away as
international interest turns elsewhere. SYG Kofi Annan
will visit Haiti on July 26. End Summary.


2. (C) I met with UN SRSG Edmond Mullet July 2 to discuss
his views of Haiti, the security environment and other
issues. Now a month into his assignment in Port au Prince,
Mullet strongly believes that the UN must play a key role
in Haiti's continued democratic evolution and should, with
presidential approval, deal with the gangs of Cite Soleil.
He acknowledged that he got off to an unfortunate start
with his AP interview in which he called for Francophone
judges to assist Haitians in revamping their judicial
system. Noting that his comments managed to unite all
sides of Haiti's political divide, he said that he still
believes that the judicial system here is so weak that it
will never be able to address the backlog of cases alone.
Mullet drives by graffiti and a roadside banner calling for
his removal each day: it is, he wryly says, "not the best
way to start off."


Security is Job 1
--------------


3. (C) Mullet said that MINUSTAH is prepared to take

"decisive action" against the gangs when/if President
Preval gives the go-ahead. The Brazilian forces
have begun, he said, to make their mark in Cite Soleil.
Brazilian soldiers at Checkpoint 16 have gotten out of
their APCs and are patrolling the neighborhood. They are
allowing local residents to use their clinic for minor
medical procedures and are attempting to connect with the
community. Mullet has been to the slum a couple of times,
as has his deputy. He will continue to do so on a weekly
basis to get people used to seeing him there.


4. (S) That being said, the threat of violence remains very
real in Cite Soleil. Mullet reports that an unknown
quantity of automatic weapons were smuggled into the area
two weeks ago. He claims that MINUSTAH has photos (source
unknown) of a small boat unloading weapons at a jetty in
the Cite Soleil area. (Note: This information has not been
corroborated by other sources. End note.) It is, he
believes, the first time such weapons have been brought
into the area and one of the few instances MINUSTAH has
documented movements by sea. Mullet believes that gangs
are increasingly using the unpoliced waters around Cite
Soleil to move in and out of the slum at will. According
to his information, kidnappers moved the Canadian
missionary hostage from up country to Cite Soleil in the
same way. MINUSTAH is looking at ways to beef up the
Haitian Coast Guard, he noted, but this is a long term
effort. In the meantime, the Brazilians have redeployed a
post at the end of the Cite Soleil jetty to attempt to stop
illicit traffic.


5. (C) Weapons remain MINUSTAH's primary preoccupation in
this uncertain environment. Mullet said that his troops
took a great deal of political flak when they stopped a
Parliamentary deputy last week to search his car. The
individual, who was not carrying any official ID, had a
"back seat full of arms," according to the SRSG. The deputy
claimed they were "for personal use" and MINUSTAH was
forced to let him go because of parlimentary immunity.
Mullet has asked Prime Minister Alexis to look at the issue
of weapons and parliamentarians, as well as how IDs are
issued in both the Upper and Lower House. In the end, he
notes, the process may be stymied because so many of the
newly elected parlimentarians have dubious, if not outright
illegal, connections.


6. (C) Mullet and I shared our concerns about the recent
upsurge in kidnappings. He speculates that they are aimed
at embarrassing Preval in his first months in office,
particularly in the wake of his decision to re-nominate
Mario Andresol as HNP DG. Mullet is, like us, skeptical
that the gangs involved in the kidnappings have direct ties
to Aristide, but agrees that they are worrying nonetheless.
Despite his high opinion of Andresol, Mullet believes that
the kidnapping rate is higher than the HNP has
acknowledged. Mullet reports that an UNPOL official found a
notebook in a senior officer's desk at HNP headquarters
which indicates that the police have been hiding the extent
of the kidnapping phenomenon over the past couple of
months. He is unable to assess whether the information in
the notebook is valid or not.

Impressed by Alexis..
--------------

7. (C) Mullet, who had just returned from a call on Jacques
Edouard Alexis during which the weapons issue was
discussed, is clearly taken by the new Prime Minister. He
finds Alexis "decisive, determined and a man with a
vision." Mullet believes that Alexis is very much in charge
of the government and will stake out a positive position.
He expects broad UN support on the government's social
appeasement program and solving other difficult issues.
One, Mullet reported, arose early: the Aristide militants
calling for their jobs back. Alexis asked for dols 1.5
million to "pay them off." According to the Prime Minister,
those FL militants removed from jobs in the wake of
Aristide's departure could disrupt the government's
national reconciliation efforts with demonstrations over
the next three months if not placated with funds. Alexis
told Mullet he would be asking other donors as well for
assistance to solve what he termed "a social problem."


..Less enthralled with Preval
--------------


8. (C ) Mullet contrasted Alexis's decisiveness with
Preval's apparent lack of engagement on key issues. He
said that he is concerned that Preval won't -- or can't --
make a decision on the need to address the security
situation in Cite Soleil once and for all. (Note: Mullet
himself deflected discussion on what we believe will be
central to any decisive MINUSTAH action against the gangs-
concerns in Brasilia about the optics of such a course. End
note.) Like many of us, Mullet expressed great frustration
in dealing with Preval's disorganized inner circle, saying
that he could often not get in to see the President until
long after he needed to because of the Preval team's lack
of responsiveness and poor preparation.


Worried about Slippage in Member Support for MINUSTAH
-------------- --------------


9. (C) Looking beyond the immediate future, Mullet
expressed concern that contributors to MINUSTAH may begin
to drift away as international interest turns elsewhere.
He welcomed Bolivia and Paraguay into MINUSTAH, but fretted
that Argentina might reduce its troop level. Although
Chilean President Bachelet expressed strong support for
MINUSTAH during her visit here last month, Mullet said, she
also discussed the redeployment of the large Chilean air
force helicopters stationed here. She promised to replace
them with smaller craft, but he is concerned that they will
not materialize. He also noted that UNPOL replacements are
slower and slower to arrive and in some cases, vacant
positions have yet to be filled. That aside, Mullet expects
no problem with the MINUSTAH mandate renewal.

Visit of SYG
--------------

10. (C) Mullet told me that SYG Kofi Annan will visit Port
au Prince on July 26, the day after the Haitians host the
Donors' conference. In addition to senior level meetings,
Annan will visit MINUSTAH troops throughout the country in
an effort to demonstrate the importance of their continued
presence here.

Comment
--------------


11. (C) Mullet is strongly committed to making MINUSTAH
work in Haiti. He has visited all ten departments and all
major MINUSTAH troop deployments in his month on the ground
and despite the unfortunate interview calling for foreign
judges -- anathema in this nationalistic environment -- has
gotten off to a generally positive start in Port au Prince.
However, in his desire to get something done in Cite
Soleil, Mullet may well have overestimated the desire of
MINUSTAH's troop contributors to get into the fray -- and
Preval's intention to authorize such a step. Mullet is well
disposed to working closely with us and has proven to be
very willing to exchange information and compare
impressions.
SANDERSON