Prospects for Post-Minustah Security in Haiti

• Published in: International peacekeeping (London, England) England), 2020-01, Vol.27 (1), p.44-57
• Main Author: Kolbe, Athena R.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Advisors; Army; Capacity building approach; Civil service; Correctional institutions; Democracy; Demonstrations & protests; Devaluation; Elections; Government employees; Human rights; Institution building; Legal system; National security; Natural disasters; Peace; Peacekeeping; Police; Police stations; Political risk; Prospects; Rule of law; Tenure; Trainers
• ISSN: 1353-3312; 1743-906X
• DOI: 10.1080/13533312.2020.1711557

In October 2017, the United Nations' fifth peacekeeping mission in Haiti since 1990, known by its French acronym MINUSTAH, ended its thirteen-year tenure. MINUSTAH left behind a thousand foreign advisors, police officers, and trainers to continue work on strengthening rule-of-law and policing institutions through a much smaller and time-limited mission, MINUJUSTH, the sixth peacekeeping mission since Haiti had its first democratic elections in 1990. MINUJUSTH ended on 15 October 2019, concluding 15 consecutive years of peace operations in the country. This transition comes at a time of increasing political instability, violent protests, natural disasters, economic turmoil associated with the devaluation of the gourde, and the re-formation of the Haitian Army. One of MINUSTAH's key goals was to strengthen the Haitian National Police (PNH), so that when UN forces left the country, they would be able to maintain peace and promote ethical, non-corrupt security provision in a country which struggles to trust state security institutions. Similarly, the focus of MINUJUSTH was on building institutional capacity for the rule of law by further training the PNH and civil servants in the judicial system, while improving physical conditions at police stations, the police academy, and correctional institution nationwide. What are the prospects for democracy in this volatile environment? Will the PNH respect the rule of law? To answer these questions, we must consider the capacity and will of the Haitian National Police to safeguard human rights, as well as the ability of the PNH to police the population without the ever-present support of UN troops. How the PNH has and may continue to perform in the post-peacekeeping period can be understood by examining the evolution of the PNH during the past 15 years.