HAITI: UN SECRETARIAT SOLICITS VIEWS ON CHANGES TO

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 001123 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV KPKO UNSC HA SUBJECT: HAITI: UN SECRETARIAT SOLICITS VIEWS ON CHANGES TO MINUSTAH'S MANDATE ¶1. (SBU) Summary. Wolfgang Weisbrod-Weber, Director of the UN DPKO Europe and Latin America Division, convened Friends of Haiti experts on May 26 to outline preliminary UN views and solicit feedback on possible changes to the mandate of the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) after UNSCR 1658 expires on August 15, 2006. He addressed MINUSTAH's role in security, the political transition, and development. On security, Weisbrod-Weber argued that MINUSTAH's current force levels should be maintained due to the "fragile" security situation in Haiti. He also said MINUSTAH should take on an expanded role in justice sector reform -- but only if donors can assure the UN they will provide the equipment to supplement MINUSTAH's training. Weisbrod-Weber agreed that DDR in Haiti is a "very difficult issue" but offered no new suggestions on how the UN could change its approach. On the political transition, he observed that MINUSTAH's role in elections should come to an end after Haiti holds its municipal and local balloting -- and that afterwards the OAS could help build the capacity of Haiti's electoral institutions. He opined that MINUSTAH's mandate to promote good governance and monitor human rights abuses should continue. Weisbrod-Weber did not endorse calls for MINUSTAH to expand its role in development, but he did argue for better coordination between peacekeeping and assistance and appealed to donors for support when the UN must make difficult decisions such as dismissing corrupt police officers or judges. Brazil and France strongly supported DPKO's call for MINUSTAH's force levels to be maintained, and the Latin Americans jointly called for a greater UN and donor focus on Haiti's development needs. End Summary. DPKO Requests Views on Changes to Mandate -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Wolfgang Weisbrod-Weber, the Director of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) Europe and Latin America Division, convened Friends of Haiti (U.S., France, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, and Peru) experts on May 26 to discuss the renewal of MINUSTAH's mandate after UNSCR 1658 expires on August 15, 2006. Recalling the operative language of UNSCR 1658, Weisbrod-Weber noted that the Council had asked SYG Annan to report back on "whether" to restructure MINUSTAH's mandate after the new government takes office and on how MINUSTAH could support reform and strengthen key institutions. Since the mandate will expire on August 15, Weisbrod-Weber said the UN Secretariat would aim to officially release the next SYG's report by August 1. To build in time for review by U/SYG Guehenno and SYG Annan himself as well as document translation, he predicted DPKO and MINUSTAH would need to finish the draft by July 1. He added that he planned to visit Haiti during the second or third week of June to wrap up consultations with MINSUTAH on the recommendations in the report. ¶3. (SBU) Weisbrod-Weber asked Friends of Haiti delegations for their views on possible changes to MINUSTAH's mandate by mid-June. He noted that changes to MINUSTAH's role would need to respond to the views of the new Haitian Government, but he said he was not sure the Haitians would be able to formulate specific views by July 1 given the need to first set up a cabinet and allow ministers some time to learn their briefs. He also noted that the newly-designated Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) to Haiti, Edmund Mulet, would arrive in Haiti on June 2 and would have a large role in formulating recommendations on MINUSTAH's future. With that in mind, Weisbrod-Weber outlined preliminary Secretariat views on MINUSTAH's role in Haiti post-August 15 in security, politics, and development. He cautioned that these were his views alone and had not yet been vetted by A/SYG Annabi or U/SYG Guehenno, but he nevertheless implied that they would form the basis of SYG Annan's draft report to the Security Council. Security: Peacekeeping, Reform, and DDR -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Weisbrod-Weber averred that MINUSTAH's Chapter VII mandate to ensure a secure and stable environment must continue beyond August 15 due to the limited capability of the HNP to ensure peace. While acknowledging that the mix between MINUSTAH's formed police units and its infantry forces might need to be re-examined, he reported that the mission's military component and its Joint Mission Analysis Cell (JMAC) believe that current force levels should be maintained after the expiration of the current mandate. Weisbrod-Weber defended this view by arguing that the situation in Haiti remains very fragile, with criminal gangs able to "turn on the switch" and unleash large-scale violence if Preval does not give them what they want. He also observed that UNSCR 1608 authorized a temporary increase in force levels during the "electoral period and subsequent political transition," which he said had yet to conclude due to outstanding local and municipal elections. Despite Preval's inaugural address call for "more tractors and fewer tanks," Weisbrod-Weber opined that the new President did not want a reduction in MINUSTAH's strength but rather more of a focus on development. Brazil and France strongly supported DPKO on the need to maintain MINUSTAH's force levels after August 15. ¶5. (SBU) Opining that Haiti will only be able to assume responsibility for its own security when its rule of law institutions are reformed, Weisbrod-Weber argued that MINUSTAH should now add justice sector reform to its current focus on police reform. To do this, he said MINUSTAH must be able to monitor and accompany legal cases as they pass through every stage of the Haitian judiciary. But an expanded UN role in reforming Haiti's rule of law institutions would not be enough, Weisbrod-Weber argued. While MINUSTAH can train police officers, judges, and prosecutors, it does not have the funds to give them the equipment they need. Especially now that the World Bank had said it has no money for police or justice reform in Haiti, DPKO observed that equipment and material support must come from donors. Before the UN takes on an expanded role in rule of law reform, Weisbrod-Weber asked for assurances that UNSC members and others will provide this financial support. Recalling the controversy over the supplementary arrangement between the UN and Haiti on police reform, he warned that an expanded UN role in justice reform would be even more intrusive and therefore more controversial. In order to make these reforms successful, Weisbrod-Weber suggested that the UN would have to make difficult decisions such as dismissing corrupt police officers and judges. MINUSTAH would need the support of UNSC members and other major donors in this respect, he said. ¶6. (SBU) Turning to disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR),Weisbrod-Weber said this was a "very difficult issue.8 Instead, he said the targets of a DDR program in Haiti would be individuals with a right to weapons guaranteed under the constitution, whom he said fell into three main groups: ex-Haitian Army (FAH'd) members, HNP officers who are eventually demobilized (he estimated their number at 25 percent of the 5-6,000 officers currently serving),and gangs of a political/criminal nature with an existing command and control structure. Although he agreed that ex-Haitian Army members have largely "melted away" over the past two years, Weisbrod-Weber noted that none had been disarmed and he cautioned that this group could still pose a threat to the new government. Drawing on previous guidance from the Department on MINUSTAH's DDR program, Poloff urged DPKO to consider how the UN could comprehensively restructure its approach to DDR to address Haiti's unique circumstances. Politics: Elections, Dialogue, and Human Rights -------------- -- ¶7. (SBU) Weisbrod-Weber argued that MINUSTAH's electoral mandate should end once Haiti holds its remaining municipal and local elections, although he acknowledged that local elections might not take place for some time. He insisted that Haiti's next parliamentary elections, scheduled for August 2007, should be handled by Haitian electoral authorities. To accomplish this, he said the international community would have to help build the capacity of Haitian electoral institutions, including a permanent electoral council. Weisbrod-Weber said that because the OAS feels it has the capacity and the expertise to provide this kind of assistance, the UN should take on a supporting role in electoral capacity-building. ¶8. (SBU) Recalling MINUSTAH's mandate to use its good offices to foster political dialogue, national reconciliation, and good governance, Weisbrod-Weber argued that the new SRSG would need this authority after August 15 in order to speak out against efforts to politicize Haitian institutions such as the police (as happened under Aristide). He recognized that the new parliament would be the forum for political dialogue, but he averred that MINUSTAH could still play a role in consolidating a political consensus behind reform. Observing that MINUSTAH is the only organization present outside of Port-au-Prince in large numbers, Weisbrod-Weber suggested it could also help build the capacity of local governance institutions. ¶9. (SBU) Weisbrod-Weber suggested that MINUSTAH should maintain its role in building Haiti's human rights institutions and in monitoring human rights abuses. This would be especially important, he said, in encouraging the new Haitian Government to address the large population of Haitians incarcerated without charge for terms exceeding the sentences they would have served had they been successfully prosecuted. MINUSTAH's human rights function, Weisbrod-Weber continued, should also help to ensure equality before the law by highlighting incidents of detention and favorable treatment for political reasons. Development: Coordination is Key -------------- ¶10. (SBU) While he agreed with the Brazilian and Argentine delegates that the international community must do more to help rebuild Haiti, Weisbrod-Weber did not endorse calls for an expanded mandate for MINUSTAH in development. He did argue that the UN should find ways to better coordinate its peacekeeping function with development assistance, both within the UN system and externally. Although the UNDP Resident Representative is dual-hatted as the UN Deputy SRSG, Weisbrod-Weber said there were very few organizational connections between UN funds and agencies and MINUSTAH organs at lower levels. The Brazilian delegate, repeating a familiar Latin American argument about the need for more quick-impact development aid, praised DPKO for including a USD 2 million request for quick-impact projects in its latest budget request to the Fifth Committee. The next budget request, the Brazilian suggested, should include an even larger development component. While acknowleding the idea, Weisbrod-Weber noted that other UN member states would likely have strong reservations about using a large percentage of assessed contribution peacekeeping funds for development assistance. ¶11. (SBU) Weisbrod-Weber emphasized the importance of donors supporting MINUSTAH's efforts in rule of law reform. He argued that the international community had to present a unified front in cases where hard decisions are required -- such as dismissing police officers and judges. "If the Haitians have a choice between MINUSTAH support for the HNP and the justice sector with strings attached and donor support without these strings," Weisbrod-Weber continued, "we know where they will go." Although the Interim Cooperation Framework (ICF) serves as a coordinating mechanism in these areas, he argued it had not worked in rule of law reform because the Haitian Minister of Justice did not want it to work. Either the ICF would need to be reinvigorated in these areas, Weisbrod-Weber suggested, or an informal group would have to be convened to coordinate aid. BOLTON