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