US State Secretary Antony Blinken said Wednesday that a global force is needed to help Haiti’s National Police restore order, repeating UN warnings that the country’s instability is rising.
In Trinidad and Tobago, which hosted a three-day CARICOM summit, Blinken briefly discussed Haiti and other topics.
Caribbean politicians often discuss Haiti. CARICOM Chair and Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit appealed for US assistance while supporting Haitian-led solutions.
“It’s no secret, Mr. Secretary, that the United States will have to play a very crucial role,” he remarked when introducing Blinken on the conference’s last day.
Blinken remarked one day before the UN Security Council met to discuss Haiti amid growing international pressure to send a foreign armed force that Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry sought in October.
The council has only sanctioned gang members and high-profile persons thought to support gangs that control an estimated 80% of Port-au-Prince, where killings, rapes, and kidnappings have increased.
With only 13,000 active-duty officers servicing more than 11 million people, Haiti’s National Police is underfunded and unable to combat the violence. Some Haitians, fed up with the brutality, have joined a gang-killing insurrection.
U.N. independent expert for Haiti William O’Neill said Wednesday that Haiti’s underfunded police force needs 1,000 to 2,000 international police professionals trained to fight violent gangs.
O’Neill addressed a news conference, “I have never seen the situation as bad as it is now.”
He visited with Haitian National Police leaders, including the inspector general, who told him 80 policemen have been suspended and are under investigation for malfeasance or illegal activity.
He called the capital’s national penitentiary “horrific” for its unclean, hot, and overcrowded cells where captives are held for hours without water or toilets. O’Neill said he spoke to a man accused of minor theft who had been in prison for seven years awaiting trial. Over 80% of detainees have never been convicted.
O’Neill said Haitians of all backgrounds welcome foreign support but don’t want another UN peacekeeping force. He stated they want gang violence expertise to assist cops.
Blinken favors an international army to restore security: “This is an area of intense focus for us.”
