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UN:
EXTENDING UN'S HAITI MISSION, SECURITY COUNCIL ADJUSTS FORCES TO REFLECT
CHANGES: 15/10/2007 (MaximsNews Network)
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UNITED NATIONS - / MaximsNews Network /
- 15 October 2007 –
The Security Council today extended the United
Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) through mid-October 2008 while
reducing its military component and increasing police in order to adjust to
changing circumstances in the country, where civil unrest remains a threat but
gang violence has been significantly curtailed.
By a
unanimously adopted resolution, the Council brought on board recommendations
made by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in his latest report on Haiti, which
called for the peacekeeping force’s military to enhance its capabilities in
border control, engineering and mobility, while decreasing its infantry
capabilities.
The
Council endorsed Mr. Ban’s proposal to reduce the Mission’s military force
level by one company, or some 140 troops, while increasing the police component
with one additional formed police unit of up to 140 officers for a total
authorized strength of 2,091 police. The ultimate aim is to transfer
responsibilities to Haitian counterparts and to facilitate Haitian National
Police engagement in conventional law and order duties.
On the
military side, the remaining 7,060 troops will be reconfigured based on a recent
threat assessment. Mr. Ban warned in his report that civil unrest remains likely
amid the persistence of a deep socio-economic divide. In addition, “the
potential for renewed armed violence within the country remains considerable,”
he cautioned, while the illicit drug trade continues to have a destabilizing
effect on Haiti.
In
response, the Mission will reduce its military presence in calmer rural and
urban areas, where increased Haitian and international policing capacity would
facilitate the transfer of some basic patrolling duties, and will redeploy
military personnel to establish patrols within maritime and land border areas,
in cooperation with the Haitian National Police and MINUSTAH police.
The
success of security measures in Haiti, including the fight against gang violence
which netted 850 suspects as of the end of July, has not been without cost: six
peacekeepers were injured in counterattacks.
The
Council resolution “condemns any attack against personnel from MINUSTAH and
demands that no acts of intimidation or violence be directed against United
Nations and associated personnel or other international and humanitarian
organizations engaged in humanitarian, development or peacekeeping work.”
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