CARIBBEAN SECURITY ASSESSMENT -- HAITI

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 PORT AU PRINCE 000762 SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA/EX AND WHA/CAR S/CRS INL FOR KEVIN BROWN AND ANGELIC YOUNG SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR INR/IAA WHA/EX PLEASE PASS USOAS WHA/CAR MICHAEL FORTIN, WHA GIOVANNI SNIDLE E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/21/2018 TAGS: MOPS PREL PTER XL MASS HA SUBJECT: CARIBBEAN SECURITY ASSESSMENT -- HAITI REF: SECSTATE 51747 PORT AU PR 00000762 001.2 OF 003 Classified By: Classified By: CDA Thomas C. Tighe for reasons 1.4 (b) a nd (d) ¶1. (C) This message is a response to reftel request for information concerning Haiti in the framework of exploring options among CARICOM countries for expanded U.S. support for Caribbean regional security capacities. USG Assistance to the Haitian National Police -------------- ¶2. (C) The Narcotics Affairs and Law Enforcement (NAS) Section of Embassy Port au Prince implements a program of law enforcement reform, corrections and counter-narcotics programs of approximately 15 million USD annually. The primary components are the US contingent to the police component of the UN Interim Administrative Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) (USD 9 million); support for the Haitian National Police (HNP) on training, equipment and infrastructure (USD 4.5 million); and counter-narcotics assistance (USD 1.5 million). Separate funding of USD 5 million is being used to implement security programs in the Cite Soleil slum area just outside Port au Prince as part of the Haiti stabilization Initiative, a USD 20 million DOD-funded project to provide security and development assistance to a targeted unstable area of the capital. An additional USD 2.9 million was made available in FY08 for assistance to Haiti,s prison system. (Note: Post,s Military Liaison Office and USAID programs also work with the GOH on disaster preparation and response. End Note). ¶3. (C) Haiti has no military. The Haitian National Police (HNP) is responsible for all security functions. The HNP includes basic police and specialized units, the Coast Guard, and the fire brigade. The HNP currently has approximately 9000 officers to cover the entire country. The goal of MINUSTAH and the international donors is to train and deploy 14,000 HNP by 2011, the minimum number the UN deems necessary for the country. However, we believe Haiti requires larger numbers of law enforcement officials to effectively police the country, including its maritime and land borders. Cooperation with the HNP has been good since 2004, with the USG providing extensive funding to support all cadet classes in the HNP Academy. The USG has also donated more than 500 vehicles to the HNP. ¶4. (C) Although Haiti has made progress in creating a professional police force, problems of capacity, corruption, and inadequate resources remain. The HNP lacks the capability to adequately confront Haiti,s main security threats of drug trafficking, kidnapping, cross-border smuggling of goods and people, and public unrest. The Haitian Coast Guard (HCG) has merely 104 officers and 10 operating boats (six of which were recently donated or refurbished by the USG) to cover over 1200 miles of coastline. Smuggling of drugs, people and small arms are major problems, as Haiti's status as a transit country continues to grow. The northern coast is the departure point for wooden hull sail freighters that traffic people to the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands. They sometimes attempt the dangerous crossing directly to the United States. Small aircraft drug flights into Haiti are increasing and much of that illicit cargo leaves Haiti by boat in the north or across the porous land border into the Dominican Republic. ¶5. (C) Haiti has recently begun limited cooperation with Dominican Republic authorities along the land border but that effort is still in its infancy. Haiti has benefited from training by the U.S. and other donors, including regional partners such as the Bahamas. The Government of Turks and Caicos Islands has been attempting to sign an MOU with Haiti covering trafficking in persons but that process has stalled. Haiti still lacks capacity and resources to control its land border beyond areas immediately adjacent to the four existing border crossing points, or the maritime borders beyond the areas closest to the ports of Port-au-Prince and Cap Haitien. PORT AU PR 00000762 002.2 OF 003 The Haitian Coast Guard (HCG) has no base on the vulnerable southwestern corner of the country (the 'southern claw'), although the Canadian Government is constructing an HCG base in Les Cayes. ¶6. (C) Haiti has a Joint Intelligence Center within the Ministry of Interior to compile and analyze drug trafficking information. Its activities have been very limited to date. Other countries in the region have expressed a desire to establish greater intelligence sharing with Haiti, particularly in reference to traffic on the northern coast. However, Haiti does not yet have the capacity to link into other centers, and still lacks the vetted staff to share intelligence with other entities. On May 9 Bahamian, Turks and Caicos, UK and US authorities met in Nassau to discuss ideas for greater regional coordination and cooperation on smuggling and trafficking issues that threaten the security of source and receiving countries. Conference participants wished to involve Haitian and Dominican authorities directly in this dialog but believed that those governments are not yet at a level enabling them to fully participate. A working group has been formed to continue to work on practical aspects of such cooperation and this same group of countries will meet again in Nassau in September to continue the dialog and assess progress. ¶7. (C) Additional U.S. assistance could finance the following ideas/projects which would assist Haiti in playing a more productive security role in the region while building the GOH capacity to address trafficking issues that adversely impact the Caribbean. -- Extend the naval cooperation program Operation Enduring Friendship to include Haiti. Haiti is among the neediest in the region yet can not now benefit from this initiative to share assets and resources. -- Extend Operation Bahamas Turks and Caicos (OPBAT) to include Hispaniola. -- Provide additional maritime assets -- including parts, maintenance, and training on such equipment -- to allow the HCG to operate along all coastal waters as well as on the inland lake that borders the DR, amajor route for land border smuggling. -- Continue to upgrade GOH port facilities and equipment to better screen cargo. -- Encourage greater cross-border cooperation with the GODR border forces, including joint training and exchange postings. This same approach should be taken with other island nations, in particular the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands. -- Collect biometrics on all intercepts of humans in regional waters. -- Assist countries to draft and implement legislation banning wooden hull sail freighters from international waters as both a safety and security risk. -- Assist countries to draft and implement legislation criminalizing all forms of trafficking, including people smuggling. Provide assistance, training and equipment to all parts of the penal chain including police, HCG, prosecutors and judges to ensure prosecution of offenders. -- Increase training visits by the US Coast Guard and Department of Homeland Security to continue to upgrade security of air, sea and land ports of entry. ¶8. (C) One of the most important tools Haiti lacks to implement many of the above items is a nationwide communication system for case and intelligence management for the HNP that would include the capability to interconnect with other countries' crime databases, including USG PORT AU PR 00000762 003.2 OF 003 databases and programs such as the FBI,s Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) and ATF,s Etrace system for tracking weapons. Haiti has expressed interest in such interconnectivity and cooperation but is technologically incapable of taking advantage of these systems at this time. Such a system could also include case management that would allow real-time sharing of information and extend far beyond the radio-based system now in place to facilitate communication between police stations. Extensive training on such a system would also be necessary. Disaster Preparedness Assistance to Haiti -------------- ¶9. (SBU) USAID also supports Haiti in disaster preparedness. Programs are designed to provide institutional support and capacity-building in disaster early warning, response and mitigation. These activities are coordinated with other international donors. In 2007, USAID support helped develop a National System for Disaster and Risk Management. Cooperation of the GOH has been excellent on these initiatives. With USG assistance, the GOH identified a site for the construction of a new Emergency Operations Center (EOC) on which construction has already begun. With help from the USAID Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWSNET),Haiti,s National Food Security Coordination Agency staff has been trained on how to coordinate and conduct population, food security and vulnerability assessments. Assistance Levels for Disaster Preparedness -------------- ¶10. (SBU) USAID is providing USD 2,534,510 to Haiti for disaster preparedness through the following partnerships: --U.S. NGO-ACDI/VOCA Food for Peace Title II Development Food Aid Program 278,000 --Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Food for Peace Title II Development Food Aid Program $236,510 --Chemonics Inc/Famine Early Warning System $400,000 --UNDP GOH/Capacity building of local disaster strategy process $250,000 --World Vision (WVI) Food for Peace Title II Development Food Aid Program $1,220,000 --Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance $150,000 U.S. Coast Guard Assistance to Haitian Coast Guard -------------- -------------- ¶11. (C) The Military Liaison Office (MLO) at post implements U.S. Foreign Military Financing (FMF) and International Military Education and Training (IMET) funding coordination for the government of Haiti. Most of the FMF and IMET funds are used to support the Haitian Coast Guard (HGC),which is not a military organization but a maritime arm of the Haitian National Police. Most FMF cases address boat and facility maintenance. MLO recently assisted other USG partner agencies in providing six boats to the HGC to expand their capabilities and strengthen their ties with the USG. Approximately USD 152,000 in IMET funding has been designated to the GOH for 2008. The Haitian Coast Guard is cooperative in security matters but currently lacks the capacity to be an effective security agent. TIGHE