By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/un1hnp021110.html
UNITED NATIONS, February 11 -- The UN says it is investigating reports of summary executions by the Haitian National Police. Video here, from Minute 57:52.
Inner City Press for the second time in ten days asked acting UN chief in Haiti Edmond Mulet about the killing of alleged thieves, this time citing Haitian religious leader Max Beauvoir's account of a January 16 meeting of President Rene Preval, the Prime Minister and police chief at which "we decided we had to deal with them in an emergency way... capital punishment, automatically, for all bandits."
Mulet stammered that "we are aware of some incidents of shooting [by] private security guards... perhaps Haitian National Police members involved." But even this, he tried to convert into imposters, who stole the HNP uniforms.
On February 1, when Inner City Press asked, Mulet said that the UN Mission MINUSTAH was "investigating" such claims. Ten days later, there are no "conclusions," he said.
Top UN peacekeeper Alain Le Roy began the February 11 presentation by praising Mulet for maintaining such good relations with the Haitian government.
How can Mulet credibly investigate and speak out against Haitian National Police killings, which Max Beauvoir said were decided on at a meeting including Rene Preval and the Prime Minister, if he is also tasked with "getting along well" with these officials?
The UN has at least two conflicting goals: to get along with the government, and to ensure that at least basic human rights are being respected. Right now the UN in Haiti appears to be paying only lip service to the second, human rights goal.
The UN need to be (made to be) much more clear about its role in Haiti. The UN has some hard working international and national civil servants in Haiti, but only if the UN admits what it cannot or will not meaningfully do will the need for others to do it become clear. Lack of clarify ill-serves the Haitian people.
Inner City Press also asked about another ostensible UN role: to try to minimize corruption, so that needed donations will be made. Inner City Press asked about documented meetings with President Preval by a Florida-based business, AshBritt, which is under fire for how it got Hurricane Katrina contracts -- with Haley Barbour as a lobbyist -- and how it performed under other contracts.
Of the meeting in which AshBritt pitched for major contracts in Haiti, Mulet said "we have nothing to do with that." Video here, from Minute 58:49. So much for an anti-corruption monitoring role for the UN. But if the UN is not going to do it, who is? Watch this site.
Footnote: Mulet also said he had no information about Haitian land owners seeking payment, now or in the future, for land used for housing, temporary and later permanent. Since aid funds are involved in this re-housing process, and the question was squarely raised to Mulet's deputy Kim Bolduc on February 8, it seemed strange that Mulet had no information three days later. We will continue to pursue this.
