THE situation in Haiti has profoundly deteriorated and become much more desperate. Last October, the UN Security Council authorised the deployment to Haiti of a multinational mission led by Kenya to try to restore order in the face of spiralling gang violence and breakdown of law and order. However, this deployment, already delayed by a Kenyan judicial process, could be made more challenging by political complications and realities in Haiti itself.
Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Chad and Jamaica formally notified the UN of their intent to contribute personnel to an international force. The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has deployed remarkable efforts in favour of peace in Haiti.
Furthermore, the most recent development seems to indicate that the government of Benin, under President Patrice Talon, would also be ready to commit its forces to contribute to the stabilisation of the Caribbean country which is so emblematic for many African nations. This is because Haiti, a land immersed in African traditions, is intrinsically linked to Africa through history, culture and spirituality.
Why is effective and rapid international action so tragically overdue when a victimised population is suffocating, and when there is a chance, however complex it may be, to turn the situation around? Humanity must heed and respond to the cries of the people of Haiti.
The Prime Minister of Haiti, Ariel Henry, announced his resignation a few days ago. The international community is calling for the establishment of a transitional government that could free the country from violence.
For a member of the family of nations, perhaps one of the most fragile, bleeding before us all with a high risk of genocide or a fully-fledged civil war, continuing inertia or hesitation would be tantamount to a crime of non-assistance.
The Transition Council that the international community is calling for will hopefully be composed of personalities from the main political parties, the private sector, civil society and religious groups. But none of the leaders has a legitimate mandate. Some are even under UN sanction; they are all very divided; others were charged at home and abroad with very serious crimes.
The heroic Haitian people, bruised a thousand times, betrayed on many occasions, deserve more and better, despite the complexity of the prevailing situation. The Pan-African Alliance for Transparency and Rule of Law (PATROL) is ready to use its good offices and serve as a communication channel in order to facilitate rapprochement between the various parties in Haiti.
The Board of Directors, our organisation’s central governing body, which is made of leading personalities in transparency, justice and rule of law reforms, governance and human rights from around the world, has confirmed that PATROL stands ready to play a catalytic and advisory role in furthering justice reforms that are compatible with and adapted to the national justice system and culture of Haiti.
We want to listen and be available to the people – Haitians at home and those in the diaspora – and serve all parties wishing to work for a return of stability and the restoration of credible and legitimate governance institutions.
More specifically, PATROL would be honoured to humbly contribute to the future of Haiti to strengthening the criminal justice system, fighting impunity and corruption, improving the prison system, and supporting security and human rights. It is time to act without political or geopolitical calculations. To this effect, PATROL is ready to engage and work with local and international partners to further these objectives.
Haiti has survived the deep torments of the transatlantic slave trade. Haiti has survived the tremendous ravages of both nature and human-induced calamities such as earthquakes, disproportionate deforestation, abject poverty and destitution, weak and in some cases absent governance institutions, political instabilities and dire humanitarian conditions, including an epidemic of cholera imported into the country.
Humanity must act quickly to support the people of Haiti to reclaim their country premised on justice, equity and socio-economic progress. Let’s genuinely, generously and courageously help Haitians reclaim their destiny and live in peace.
Indeed, we could all be guilty of failing to assist this remarkable people in danger. For the Pearl of the Antilles, humanity has the means to ensure that this is not wishful thinking.
Adama Dieng is Founding President of PATROL, a former Independent Expert on the Situation of Human Rights in Haiti, a former UN Under Secretary-General/Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, and former Registrar of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.