S/PV.7924 Security Council

In accordance with rule 37 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, I invite the representative of Brazil to participate in this meeting. The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. Members of the Council have before them document S/2017/313, which contains the text of a draft resolution submitted by the United States of America. I wish to draw the attention of Council members to document S/2017/223, which contains the report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti. The Council is ready to proceed to the vote on the draft resolution before it. I shall put the draft resolution to the vote now.

The draft resolution received 15 votes in favour. The draft resolution has been adopted unanimously as resolution 2350 (2017). I now give the floor to those members of the Council who wish to make statements after the voting.

We wecome the adoption of resolution 2350 (2017), renewing the mandate of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) for a period of six months, concluding in October. It has been 13 years since we first established the MINUSTAH mandate. We welcome the fact that responsibilities will be transferred to a new mission whose main role will be strengthening the capacities of national institutions in Haiti in such a way that the Government will be in a position to fully shoulder its own responsibilities after the transition. Against that backdrop, we voted in favour of the resolution to express our support for the Government and people of Haiti and in order to ensure that the country can continue to make progress towards lasting peace. We see the country as being ready to make progress after the various success stories that we have seen in terms of political stability. We would point in particular to the presidential elections and the end of the transitional phase. On that particular point, we support the establishment of the future mission, which will be in a position to support the Government on the basis of the three responsibilities enshrined in paragraph 6 we just adopted. The mission will, of course, not assume those responsibilities directly but support the Government therein. We therefore supported the resolution because we believe that the mandate of the upcoming mission will not undermine the efforts of human rights organizations of the United Nations working in Hiati. We welcome the fact that there will be no overlap. We must always be careful to ensure that the Security Council’s resolutions do not have an adverse impact on the work of other United Nations agencies and bodies or the mandates granted by other bodies, such as the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly. Troop-contributing countries (TCCs) are working to serve the cause of peace and security. We want to make that point very clear. The capacity of troops needs to be strengthened, and we need to plug any gaps that might have an adverse impact on the way they function. Such steps must be part of triangular cooperation between the TCCs, the Security Council amd the Secretariat. All of these aspects must be borne in mind and duly studied and analysed within the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations as well, and not just here.

Uruguay voted in favour of resolution 2350 (2017) on the basis of our belief that this is the best way to support the continued transition going forward in Haiti. The new United Nations Mission for Justice Support in Haiti will focus on three key areas: the rule of law, security and human rights. With the extension of the current mandate of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) until October, we will be able to draw to a close a very successful United Nations peacekeeping operation. For the past 13 years and under the leadership Brazil, MINUSTAH has played an intense role in difficult circumstances — complicated at the outset by natural factors, such as the earthquake of 2010 and last year’s hurricane — and has always fulfilled its functions. We also underscore the importance of the new Mission’s ongoing cooperation and assistance so that Haiti can achieve sustainable development. We also reiterate our congratulations and best wishes to the people and the Government of Haiti, which Uruguay, as a friendly country, has supported throughout every stage. We reiterate our support for Brazil and the work of Ms. Sandra Honoré, as well as to all the men and women who have participated and will continue to participate in MINUSTAH as it completes his mandate professionally and responsibly. At the same time, we are grateful for all the cooperation we have enjoyed from the Group of Friends of Haiti throughout the years. I would like to make it clear that in the negotiation process of the resolution, the Group of Friends worked strenuously, as usual, to submit to the Security Council a resolution that enjoyed consensus. However, at the end of the negotiating process within the Group of Friends, language was was introduced into the resolution that had not previously been discussed and that, in the view of many, did not do justice to the outstanding work performed by MINUSTAH for all these years.

The Russian delegation voted in favour of resolution 2350 (2017) because of the importance of the role that the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti plays in stabilizing the situation in that country, and because there is a need to continue extending assistance to the Government of Haiti. At the same time, we would like to offer some comments on the content of the resolution and the working methods of the Council. We note that there is a discrepancy, on the one hand, between the documents submitted and the nature of our recent discussions over the situation in Haiti and, on the other, the statements made by the author of the resolution and those who supported it. It will be recalled that on 6 April, the Council came together in order to assess the effectiveness of United Nations peacekeeping operations (see S/PV.7918). Over the course of that meeting, the United States delegation, which initiated the meeting, stated that there was a need to go back to basics in peacekeeping and make sure that we prevent an uncontrolled bloating of mandates. The delegations and the Secretariat said that it was important to make sure that applicable mandates were made understandable, clear and attainable. However, those ideas are not reflected in the documents submitted. The mandate of the mission is not clear. On one hand, the Mission is to carry out the monitoring of human rights either by itself or by helping the Government to do so. On the other hand, it is stated that the decision was made by the Council in line with Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, which implies the use of force. We do not understand how, in principle, this could be implemented in practice. In the course of working on the draft resolution, we heard objections. People said that the previous mission also worked on the basis of Chapter VII, but let us take a careful look. Its use had been very clearly limited exclusively to issues having to do with maintaining security. So, the question arises: how did the situation in the country change? Is it that the penholders and those who supported the resolution within the Council are so convinced that, against the backdrop of a gneral improvement of the situation in Haiti, the situation violations of human rights has, contrarily, become a threat to international peace and security? That would be the only case in which this situation could become a subject for consideration for the Security Council. Let me recall that the Blue Helmets are in Haiti because of issues having nothing to do with human rights. The same logic also applies to the Secretariat’s good offices. A question here is: to what extent are they good if this is something that falls under Chapter 7 of the Charter? What is most surprising is that these requests are being made against a background of basic stabilization in Haiti, which is exactly what allowed us to consider the drawdown and changing the format of the presence of the United Nations in the country. Literally two days ago, on 11 April (see S/PV.7920), we discussed the Secretary-General’s report on the situation in Haiti (S/2017/223). Basically all those who spoke then, including the Special Representative of the Secretary- General, Ms. Sandra Honoré and most members of the Council, noted that a peaceful transfer of power had taken place and that there was an improvement in the security situation. They also noted that it was exactly these positive developments that enabled us to consider the issue of reviewing the mandate of the mission. During the discussion of the draft statement, we also heard that a robust mandate was necessary to supposedly maintain the levers of influence over the Government. We are not convinced that in this situation we need to be talking about exerting influence or pressure, especially since we are talking about the Mission’s success, which will enable us to close it in six months. We think that in this context what we need to be stressing is interaction and cooperation with the host country, especially since there is a clear prospect that the situation will normalize. Unfortunately, we cannot confidently say that the text submitted was the outcome of the work done by the Group of Fiends of Haiti, and not only because the version adopted differs from the version agreed in that format, but also because of the criticism made by members of the Group about the decision-making process within that informal body.

First and foremost, we would like to thank the President for having convened this meeting this morning. We would also like to pay tribute to the hard work of the Group of Friends of Haiti, as they participated in the drawing up of the text of resolution 2350 (2017). We also thank the members of the Security Council for having adopted the resolution. Bolivia would like to reiterate its commitment to the bright present and future of the Republic of Haiti. We believe that the international community needs to work as one in order to support the economic development of Haiti and to ensure the stability of this brother country. We would like to underscore the point that the international community’s efforts need to be pursued in close coordination and cooperation with the Haitian Government and the authorities within the country, always taking their priorities into account. Our support for them must fully respect their sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity. In line with the position expressed by the representative of Haiti, we would like to echo the welcome to all that has been achieved in terms of security and stability. Many of these achievements will pave the way for a period of transition that will, in time, allow the Haitian National Police to increasingly assume full responsibility for the policing responsibilities in their country. We support the Haitian statement with respect to the convergence of opinion between Haiti and the United Nations with regard to the orderly drawdown and withdrawal of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). We hope that the new mission, the United Nations Mission for Justice Support in Haiti, which will replace MINUSTAH, will continue to work in close partnership with the national security forces in Haiti, contributing to the full implementation of the rule of law within Haiti and the upholding of human rights, in line with the recommendations outlined in the latest report of the Secretary-General (S/2017/223) and fully commensurate with the needs and priorities set by the Government and people of Haiti. In the same vein, we believe that the Security Council must continue to regularly assess the situation on the ground in Haiti. It is for that reason that, as we have previously announced, it is Bolivia’s intention, under our presidency in June, to carry out a visit of the Security Council to Haiti as a demonstration of our ongoing interest in that country and continue to work with it. That visit will enable us to receive information first hand from the authorities in Haiti and to see for ourselves the process of drawing down MINUSTAH and the planning of a transition between MINUSTAH and its replacement mission. We believe that a visit in June will be the perfect opportunity to assess the situation on the ground. The visit will partially be to see how the Security Council can further contribute to the stabilization of Haiti over the long-term and how we can work with the people of Haiti to deliver development for the country. In order to achieve that overall purpose, we would like to underscore the importance of cooperation between the new mission and the country team of the United Nations. All of the aforementioned elements can make a valuable contribution to the pre-planning for the new mission that the Secretary-General will establish. The Security Council’s visit will be important for our understanding of the new mission and our understanding of what the elements of that mission need to be, all in order to ensure that everybody is speaking with one voice and acting in concert. We need to have a proper understanding of the needs of the State in the current reality so that we could probably assist and design the replacement mission appropriately. We would like to echo the words of the Chair of the Group of Friends of Haiti, the representative of Uruguay, particularly with respect to the language used in paragraph 18, which is borrowed from a resolution on another mission and thus reflects an entirely different reality from that in Haiti. That sews doubt over what has been happening in Haiti. We would like to make the point that paragraph 18 in no way reflects the reality on the ground in Haiti. It casts aspersions on the actions of MINUSTAH’s troops and police and in no way reflects their behaviour. Bolivia has participated in MINUSTAH in a professional and dedicated manner. We enjoy the appreciation and recognition of the Haitian people, which we are proud of. We believe that the reference to Chapter VII in the resolution in this particular instance does not properly reflect the reality in the country. Similarly, the idea of simply standardizing paragraphs for all Security Council resolutions pertaining to peacekeeping operations is neither workable nor beneficial to missions or to the work of the Security Council. We cannot have a one-size-fits-all approach to all peacekeeping operations. They will have their differences. Each reality and each set of circumstances are different. We must tailor the language of resolutions to those different realities. In the new era in which Haiti finds itself, Bolivia would like to reiterate its commitment to its Haitian brothers and sisters as they seek to develop a stable democracy and sustainable development. We will work together with the Security Council and the entire United Nations in order to continue that support.

France welcomes the adoption of resolution 2350 (2017), which closes the Mission in six months and establishes a new successor mission, which will deal with issues related to police, rule of law and human rights, in accordance with the recommendations of the Secretary-General. This is an important decision, and we welcome the fact that the Council adopted the resolution unanimously. Thirteen years having passed since the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) was established, it was time to register the success achieved by the Mission in terms of stabilizing Haiti, and to move toward a new type of United Nations presence, one more tailored to the needs of the country and the conditions on the ground, which have evolved considerably and in a positive direction. The work carried out by MINUSTAH in recent years will enable us to get Haiti out of the emergency situation in which it found itself until recently, by restoring a climate of relative security, participating in reconstruction efforts after the 2010 earthquake, or contributing to the substantial strengthening of the Haitian National Police — the increase in authority of which is a token of stability for the country. Much of the credit is due to the United Nations and the Council, but also to the troop-contributing countries, without which the Mission would have been unable to play its role. The new operation, which will begin in October, is to consolidate the advances already made by making the Haitian National Police an autonomous actor. It will also engage in other major projects in the areas of the rule of law, the fight against impunity, increasing the professionalism and the independence of the judiciary, and the establishment of a correctional system that is compatible with the needs of the country and respect for the rights of detainees. The human rights situation, which remains an area of concern, should also be monitored attentively, and be the object of regular recommendations. We believe that is critical to maintaining an effective and lasting peace, and is therefore inextricably linked to other activities of the next mission. France has long called on the Council to shoulder its responsibility with regard to the question of Haiti by taking the necessary measures to ensure that the Organization’s means of engagement in the country remain, over time, as appropriate and efficient as possible. That was done today and we are quite pleased. However, this new stage does not spell the end of United Nations engagement with Haiti. On the contrary, it demonstrates the ability of the Council to develop, in an ongoing manner, United Nations activity in the field — activity of which the primary concern is to respond in the best possible way to the needs of the people concerned. This new stage also signals the establishment of a more appropriate and more effective tool for the benefit of Haiti and Haitians. I should like to conclude by also paying tribute to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Ms. Sandra Honoré, and to the staff of MINUSTAH.

The United Kingdom welcomes the unanimous adoption of resolution 2350 (2017). It is a good demonstration of how the United Nations should be sustaining peace by selecting the right tools at the right time for the right ends. As we argued on Tuesday, the Haiti of today is not the Haiti of 2004. It is a country on a trajectory toward greater stability. Peacekeeping troops performing a stabilization role are no longer the right tool in Haiti. The resolution bring the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) to a close, and I welcome that. We thank all of the troops and all of the troop- contributing countries for their service to MINUSTAH. The United Nations holds other tools that are required for today’s Haiti. United Nations police units are still needed to uphold the security achieved to date, but the primary focus of the United Nations must now be ensuring that the Haitian National Police is able to perform that role itself. Support for Haiti’s security capacities will not alone sustain peace in the country. As history has told us time and time again, it is the rule of law and the protection of human rights, not the capacity to use force that delivers long-term stability. It is welcome that the resolution launches a new peace operation, the United Nations Mission for Justice Support in Haiti (MINUJUSTH), with the appropriate mandate and authorization to advance toward those very ends. Ultimately, however, the new Mission has one overarching objective, which should be to work tirelessly to establish the conditions for its own redundancy. MINUJUSTH should be working toward a careful exit through the phased handover of responsibilities to the Haitian Government and greater reliance on the tools of the United Nations country team. I am glad that an exit plan will be developed from the very start of it deployment. Haiti is still fragile. It needs the support of the United Nations through a new peace operation in the short term and the use of other United Nations soon after that. We can never have an absolute guarantee of continued stability in any context. The experience of peacekeeping withdrawals in Haiti’s recent past loom large. But fear of the worst outcome should not restrain us from pursuing the best, which is a peaceful, just and stable Haiti standing proudly on her own two feet.

Italy welcomes the adoption by the Security Council of resolution 2350 (2017), which marks a critical turning point, moving the focus of United Nations peacekeeping in Haiti from stabilization to institution-building. The unanimity of the Council will ensure that the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti and the United Nations Mission for Justice Support in Haiti will hold firm in the implementation of their mandates. It also demonstrates the consensus within the Security Council on the Haitian question, which is very important at this stage. My country reaffirms its support for a responsible transition, as set out in the resolution just adopted. We are committed to continue to help Haiti on their path toward a stable and inclusive democracy and lasting peace. With this resolution, the Council establishes a road map that will ensure that the United Nations assistance is appropriate to the current circumstances in Haiti. This is an important stage in the peacekeeping mandate, which will be tailored to the real needs of the country. Italy welcomes, in particular, the importance attached to human rights, the participation of women and the principle of responsibility, to which we attribute a key role in the ability of Haitian authorities to achieve their objectives, as well as to ensure the credibility of United Nations missions.

Japan welcomes the unanimous adoption of resolution 2350 (2017). We thank the United States for taking a leading role in the negotiations. Japan voted in favour of the resolution based on the clear progress achieved in Haiti. The Council has a responsibility to adopt mission configurations that match the situation on the ground. The time is right for a responsible transfer of tasks to the United Nations Mission for Justice Support in Haiti (MINUJUSTH) and the United Nations country team. The United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) has significantly contributed to the stabilization of the country over the past 13 years, and we commend the men and women who have served there. Haiti has demonstrated ownership of the electoral process. We are also pleased by improvements in the capacity of the Haitian National Police; however, there is still more to do, including with respect to further strengthening its capacity and the rule of law. With that in mind we have given MINUJUSTH a clear and focused mandate in a planned two-year time frame. We believe this new Mission, together with Haitian ownership, will help to further consolidate the gains achieved by MINUSTAH. The people of Haiti will continue to be Japan’s first priority. We will continue to support the consolidation of stability and development in the country going forward.

We thank the United States delegation, as the penholder, as well as other stakeholders for their efforts with regard to resolution 2350 (2017), which we support. Kazakhstan fully recognizes the importance of the activities of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti to restore and secure a stable environment in Haiti. In the light of the new tasks that have been delegated, we support the transition to a new and integrated Mission focusing on the rule of law, criminal justice, and human rights reforms in the security and other sectors. My delegation welcome the progress made in strengthening stability and democracy, and in restoring constitutional order in the country following the peaceful and orderly elections — which is recognized as a commendable achievement for a country still in transition after facing many setbacks. The strong engagement of the international community is an obvious necessity for Haiti’s sustainable development, with its measures to improve housing, water, education, health care and promote gender equality. Haiti also needs all our support in combating transnational crime. However, this is the beginning of a new era for Haiti. The situation on the ground is still fragile and the Security Council should continue to follow developments in and around the country. At this stage, the focus of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti, the United Nations and others is on reforming and strengthening State institutions to lay the foundation of stability, first, by implementing the transition plan and building the operational and institutional capacity of the Haitian National Police. Simultaneously, the new mandate, by ensuring law and order, will indirectly support peacebuilding and promote socioeconomic development geared towards a framework of mutual accountability among the Government of Haiti, the United Nations and the international community.

The orderly withdrawal of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) and the concurrent step-up of a smaller successor peacekeeping mission, on the basis of ensuring overall stability in Haiti, is a consensus reached by all Council members and is called for by the current situation. It meets the expectations of all parties. Today’s decision can help the Haitian Government to assume its responsibility for maintaining national security and stability. In the light of those considerations, China voted in favour of resolution 2350 (2017). Meanwhile, we believe that the underlying tenet of Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations is the maintenance of international peace and security, which does not involve human rights. We hope that Council members will stay united in supporting MINUSTAH’s orderly withdrawal and continue to promote stability and development in Haiti. MINUSTAH has played an important role in maintaining security and stability in Haiti since 2004. China highly commends this development and progress. As we speak, the situation in Haiti is largely stable. New development opportunities have emerged. We hope that all parties in Haiti will pull together to preserve the current positive momentum and maintain national stability and development. We hope that the new Haitian Government will identify a development path suited and tailored to national conditions without delay, and that the international community, including countries of the region, will continue to contribute to an improved situation in Haiti.

Senegal voted in favour of resolution 2350 (2017) as a further sign of its continued solidarity with the Government and people of Haiti, with whom we share special historical relations. This commitment led to Senegal’s deployment of 173 police officers to the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). In 2010, following the horrific earthquake that struck Haiti, Senegal responded by hosting more than 200 students who were trained in human rights and in gender rights in particular, which ultimately made it possible for this country to manage these issues. Senegal is therefore pleased to have voted with the other Security Council members to extend MINUSTAH’s mandate for a further six months and for the last time with a view to its drawn down on 15 October. We also welcome the establishment of the new United Nations Mission for Justice Support in Haiti on 16 October to support the Haitian Government as it seeks to strengthen its institutions, particularly in the areas of rule of law, the police force and human rights. Senegal will continue to be a partner of Haiti in those efforts. On 11 April (see S/PV.7920) I noted here that Haiti was at a crossroads. As we work to restructure MINUSTAH, we appeal to the international community to step up its cooperation in all areas with this country, which, in the eyes of Senegal and Africa, I repeat, is the first black republic and the first South American democracy. Our appeal was all the more urgent as, in the transition from the newly elected President, the outgoing provisional President said that the vulnerability of Haiti at the environmental, economic and social levels was inexorably deteriorating every day, as 96 per cent of the population was living constantly from the threat of two well-known hazards: drought and floods. As if response, in his own inauguration address President Jovenel Moïse, the fifty-eighth President of Haiti, said that he would fulfil his campaign promises before the end of his first mandate so that, inter alia, his Government could restore the trust of the Haitian people in the political system and class and in the national elites; reinforce social inclusion and national solidarity; boost the productive sectors of the economy, including tourism, by the domestication of new technologies; and, of course, build a resilient nation able to withstand the natural disasters that frequently strike the country. That is why Senegal appeals to and commends the Group of Friends of Haiti, chaired by our colleague, the Permanent Representative of Uruguay, to continue to advocate for that country, which still needs the United Nations.

I shall now make a statement in my national capacity. Today’s resolution 2350 (2017) brings to a close a Mission that began in 2004 when Haiti was first faced with an armed conflict that had spread to several cities across the country. Accountability and reporting language has been added so that we are able to track the effectiveness of remaining personnel. Two regional hubs will be removed to focus efforts in the areas that need the most support. As the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti draws down and the new United Nations Mission for Justice Support in Haiti gears up, the Haitian people will be set on the path of independence and self-sufficiency. This is a success story when it comes to drawing down a peacekeeping mission. The United States will continue to stand with the people of Haiti. We have previously noted the contributions of many of the peacekeeping troops in Haiti. While this is seen as a success, unfortunately, it is a nightmare for many in Haiti, who will never be able to forget and live with brutal scars. We must acknowledge the abandoned children, 12-15 years old, who lived every day with hunger. They were lured by peacekeepers with cookies and snacks. The high price of this food was sexual abuse. According to Paisley Dodds of the Associated Press, the children were passed from soldier to soldier. One boy was gang raped in 2011 by peacekeepers, who disgustingly filmed it on a cellphone. What do we say to those kids? Did these peacekeepers keep them safe? We must acknowledge those realities. How can we learn from those acts? These peacekeepers are sent into vulnerable communities to protect the innocent, not to exploit or rape them. The United States has made it clear to the United Nations and all troop- contributing countries that these abuses must stop. Countries that refuse to hold their soldiers accountable must recognize that this either stops or their troops will go home and their financial compensation will end. The abuses do not represent a troop-contributing country poorly if they hold those abusers accountable and stress this to the soldiers who are in place. The United States will continue to work closely with Haiti as it makes progress towards security and stability. With the international community, we stand by the Government of Haiti and are committed to the country’s democratic development, independence and economic growth. We will, however, continue to push for the accountability of those troops in Haiti, as well as all troop-contributing countries involved in peacekeeping efforts. We owe it the vulnerable in those countries, who desperately need peace and security. I ask Council members to join me in that effort. I now resume my functions as President of the Council. I now give the floor to the representative of Brazil.

I have the honour to speak on behalf of Brazil, Chile and Guatamala. Two days ago (see S/PV.7920), we expressed before the Council our support for the Secretary-General’s recommendations on gradually withdrawing the military component of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) until the closure of the Mission on 15 October. We have also supported the proposal to establish a follow-on mission focused on strengthening the rule of law, police development and monitoring human rights in Haiti. Regrettably, we were surprised, however, to see in resolution 2350 (2017) the last-minute introduction of paragraph 18, which had never been discussed in the Group of Friends of Haiti. Although we favour accountability in peacekeeping operations, we believe that the content of this paragraph is unnecessary in the current resolution and does not reflect the reality on the ground and the high-level performance of MINUSTAH’s troops. During the 13 years of MINUSTAH, there has been no problem at all regarding undeclared caveats, lack of effective command and control, refusal to obey orders, failure to respond to attacks on civilians or inadequate equipment, as paragraph 18 may suggest. In a moment of review and possibly reform of peacekeeping operations, it is crucial to highlight the importance of tailored approaches. The idea of standardizing and replicating paragraphs in all resolutions of the Council regarding peacekeeping operations is ill conceived. One size does not fit all. Our countries are very proud of the work done by MINUSTAH, including its military component, which has had exemplary behaviour and operational performance, contributing to its success and ultimately to the work of the Security Council.