Kenyan judge declares police deployment to Haiti “illegal”

a court of kenya on Friday blocked the government’s “unconstitutional, illegal and invalid” plan to deploy a thousand police officers haitiVictims of gang violence, within the framework of the mission supported by United Nations,

This decision represents a break on this much-expected multinational force prince port, designed to stop the growing lawlessness in the small Caribbean country. According to the latest report, gang violence led to nearly 5,000 deaths in 2023, of which more than 2,700 were civilians. United Nations,

The report warns that in addition to this climate of general terror, with its residents forced to flee or hide, the country is suffering one of the “worst” food crises in the world.

Faced with increasingly pressing calls from the Haitian government and the United Nations, Kenya agreed to lead the mission, consisting of between 2,500 and 2,600 troops and which was to be deployed “during the first quarter of 2024”, the Deputy According to the Special Representative of the United Nations in Haiti.

However, the plan, approved by the Kenyan parliament on 16 November, generated protests in the African country.

Opposition Ekuru Okut filed an appeal before the Nairobi High Court alleging the mission is unconstitutional because it is not based on any law or treaty.

,National Security Council “There is no authority to deploy national police officers outside Kenya,” Judge Enock Chacha Mwita said on Friday.

“Such a decision goes against the Constitution and law and is, therefore, unconstitutional, illegal and invalid,” he said.

The government can appeal against the decision.

“We will wait for them in the appeals court and go to the Supreme Court,” opposition member Ekuru Okot told AFP, welcoming Friday’s decision.

mission for humanity

Haitian Foreign Minister Jean Victor Genius demanded on Thursday that troops be quickly sent to the island. He declared before the United Nations Security Council, “Every day that passes is another day (…) when we live in a hell of gangs.”

Kenya has already participated in several peacekeeping missions in neighboring countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo or Somalia and other parts of the world including Liberia, East Timor and the former Yugoslavia.

However, the Kenyan government has been strongly criticized after it announced that it planned to send police to Haiti, a highly unstable and dangerous country.

The High Court’s decision is a blow to Kenyan authorities.

President William Ruto had said that the deployment constituted, according to him, a “mission for humanity” in a country ravaged by colonialism.

According to a UN Security Council resolution adopted in October, with China and Russia voting 13 in favor and 2 abstaining, this “Multinational Security Assistance Mission” – which is not dependent on the UN – is initially to last twelve months. Was. With reviews after nine.

Furthermore, the resolution urged future missions to “take appropriate measures with respect to waste water management” to prevent the spread of diseases.

With this recommendation, the UN presumably tried to convince Haitians of the mission’s interest, who have bad memories of the last international force deployed in their territory.

The blue helmets of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTA), present from 2004 to 2017, caused a cholera epidemic, leading to more deaths 10,000 dead, An episode that partly explains why future missions will not be conducted under the UN flag.