 |
|
||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||
|
|
Haiti - Crisis : The OAS reiterates the need for international security support 10/05/2023 09:54:08
Excerpt from Cristo Dupouy's speech : "[...] The situation in Haiti is serious. The country is undergoing its deepest crisis since the return of democracy in 1987. Even though, Haiti has had the unfortunate record of having elected 10 presidents during this time frame and agreed to negotiate 12 other interim governments and presidents with the results we all know. Let's be frank, 35 years since the transition to democracy, political instability and the constant negotiation of elected office has never yielded the desired results. Haiti has deteriorated sharply since the beginning of the year, the gang prevalence in the capital has accelerated and spread somewhat to the provinces, the weakness of the Haitian National Police is as palpable today as it has ever been, the economy is in shambles, many State institutions are dysfunctional, the humanitarian condition faces a disastrous outcome and any prospect for the situation to change course is far, very far away from where we stand today. [...] Each week, if not every day, reports come in from Haiti on chronic fuel shortages, lack access to food or medicines, increasing hardship and horror has become the norm, and by all accounts, the Haitian population fares much worse today than it has in the past. [...] As a fragile security situation prevails in Haiti the nexus between criminal groups and politics is still very much strong and may still bring Haiti to the brink. [...] Now, the question that I ask of you, now that we've had ample time to be exhaustively briefed on Haiti, with the many achievements of the Working Group, what is going to be the stance that we collectively take on this particular issue? Let me be frank with you as I always have been. Haiti has requested to the UN and to the OAS in October of last year assistance to stem the massive level of violence that is afflicting the country. After months of discussions in other fora, the needle has not budged, and Haiti continues a downward spiral. What are the institutional answers that we are in a position and able to take today here at the OAS? I do not see any scenario, where there is a viable outcome for Haiti, where there isn't a consequent international presence on the ground, to alleviate the suffering of the Haitian people. Whatever form this may take, it should at least be discussed in the adequate forum that this organization authorizes and facilitate a hemispheric answer to the task that Haiti has commended upon us. [...] I am convinced that we have not been speaking in front of deaf ears, but we struggle to understand why it has taken so long to address the necessity that Haiti so desperately needs. There are examples of other initiatives to support countries in crisis, for which international assistance hasn't had to undergo such tortuous paths. [...] Wasn't this organization created precisely to deal with situations like the one Haiti is going through as stated in our Charter? 'To achieve an order of peace and justice, to promote their solidarity, [ ... ] and to defend their sovereignty, their territorial integrity, and their independence.' As affirmed in Article 1 of the OAS Charter. State sovereignty entails the obligation to protect its own people. When a State cannot fully do so and the peace and security of a region is endangered, this responsibility rests with the international community. In the case of Haiti, its authorities have repeatedly requested a special force to support the National Police. Something that becomes urgent in light of what continues to happen in Haiti. In a country of 12 million inhabitants that counts less than 9,500 police officers [active in the field] I wonder how Haiti will enable to tackle alone this insurmountable task. Citizens are fending and arming themselves in what could become an explosive situation of vigilante expeditious justice and extrajudicial killings, moving Haiti, once again to the brink and on the wrong direction. The worst may be yet to come as gangs get stronger and security forces weaken. We cannot be seen, the International Community, as gravely paralyzed in the face of Haiti as it keeps on plummeting ever faster. We keep on underscoring this unfolding tragedy at the top of our hemispheric agenda in a country that figurately and literarily stands at the center of our shared hemisphere, hoping that by addressing its needs we can tackle somehow our own shortcomings." See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-39369-haiti-politic-the-task-force-on-haiti-requests-immediate-support-for-haiti.html HL/ HaitiLibre
|
|
|
|
Why HaitiLibre ? |
Contact us |
Français
Copyright © 2010 - 2024 Haitilibre.com |