Global Policy Forum

By Edith M. Lederer

After a decade of international failure in Haiti, the United Nations has approved a new peacekeeping mission aimed at stabilizing the Caribbean nation. The Security Council authorized a force of 8,000 for the wide-ranging mission, from police to human rights experts. The vote Friday was unanimous. The force will replace the 3,600-member contingent of American-led troops from the United States, Canada, Chile and France. That force has been on patrol since the ouster in February of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Haiti's first democratically elected president.

The U.N. peacekeepers take over on June 1 for an initial period of six months. Annan had asked for two years, but the United States and several other council members felt a shorter mission was better for monitoring progress and watching costs, diplomats said. Still, the council agreed with Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the need for long-term commitment and said it intends to renew the mandate. U.N. special envoy Reginald Dumas had said it would take the world at least 20 years to bring peace to Haiti and raise living standards in the Western hemisphere's poorest nation. He said previous missions to Haiti have failed because they were short-lived. There have been 10 international missions to Haiti in the last decade.

U.S. Deputy Ambassador Stuart Holliday said the United States was "very pleased" with the resolution and predicted it would encourage other countries to contribute troops. Amnesty International, however, said it was concerned about the "serious risk" of an early return to instability "unless the U.N. can commit to Haiti for the long haul."

The council authorized up to 6,700 troops and 1,622 international police for the U.N. Stabilization Mission in Haiti — or MINUSTAH. U.N. officials have stressed it will take time to reach those ceilings because peacekeepers are in short supply, especially French speakers. French is the official language although the vast majority of people speak Haitian Creole, a French dialect. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil said last week that his country was prepared to take command of the U.N. force and send 1,470 troops. Chile's U.N. Ambassador Heraldo Munoz indicated his country would also contribute. "I trust that we'll have the troops," Munoz said. "I hope with this we'll be there for the long haul and not lose patience as we did in the past." The United Nations must "stay on with the Haitians until democracy is reinstated and perhaps the rule of law and a strong state. But those are major words and will take a long time," Munoz said.

The resolution gives the U.N. mission a robust mandate which allows the use of military force if necessary. One of its main tasks will be to assist Haiti's transitional government in reforming the national police. Fewer than half of Haiti's 5,000 police have returned to their posts since Aristide fled, a major obstacle as the government tries to reconcile the divided population of 8.2 million. The U.N. mission is authorized to help Haitian police in disarming, demobilizing and reintegrating "all armed groups."

It also has authority to protect "civilians under imminent threat of physical violence, within its capabilities" and to restore and maintain "the rule of law, public safety and public order." In the political sphere, the U.N. mission will focus on promoting national reconciliation and organizing free and fair municipal, parliamentary and presidential elections "at the earliest possible date." It will also assist in the investigation of human rights violations and the reform of Haiti's judiciary.