Director-General/Executive Director
Monsieur le Président,
Excellences,
Mesdames et Messieurs les membres du Conseil,
Je suis reconnaissante de l'opportunité donnée à l'ONUDC d’intervenir à nouveau auprès des membres du Conseil au sujet de la dégradation de la crise sécuritaire qui paralyse Haïti.
Depuis ma dernière intervention devant le Conseil en septembre, le non-respect de la loi, l'escalade de la violence et l'ampleur des activités criminelles organisées ont continué à alimenter la crise et n'ont apporté aucun répit au peuple haïtien.
Au contraire, elles ont progressivement contribué à l'aggravation de la crise et à l'affaiblissement des efforts déployés au niveau national en faveur de la paix et de la sécurité. Plus inquiétant encore nous notons de nouvelles dynamiques des groupes agissant hors de Port-au-Prince, directement impliqués dans le trafic d’armes de plus en plus sophistiquées et cherchant à enrôler de nouvelles recrues dans les camps des populations déplacées.
Excellencies,
The Secretary-General’s latest report to this Council on Haiti points to an escalation of violence and insecurity in the country, including rising numbers of homicides and kidnappings.
The flows of illicit firearms and drugs into Haiti are compounding the situation, fuelling violence and adding complex challenges.
Last month, UNODC published an assessment entitled “Haiti’s criminal markets: mapping trends in firearms and drug trafficking”, which we had the honour to present during the first meeting of the Security Council Committee created pursuant to resolution 2653 of 2022.
The assessment paints an alarming picture.
Increasingly sophisticated and high-calibre firearms and ammunition are being trafficked into Haiti, with most new firearms and ammunition entering the country illegally by land, air and most frequently, sea.
Severe limitations in maritime control capacities, personnel, and equipment, as well as a lack of border surveillance and patrol infrastructure, have curtailed efforts to stop the influx, which is enabling gang-related violence to reach unprecedented levels.
Heavily armed criminal gangs are targeting critical infrastructure such as ports, grain storages, customs offices, police stations, court houses, prisons, businesses and neighbourhoods. They have also gained control of major highways and roads providing access to the capital.
Some gangs have expanded their territory outside Port-au-Prince.
The dire security situation is overwhelming the already limited capacities of Haiti’s national police, customs, border patrols and coast guard.
Haiti is leading its security response the best it can, but this comes at great human cost. Homicide rates are skyrocketing, while more and more police officers are being targeted and killed in the line of duty by gangs.
Meanwhile, Haiti’s law enforcement and border control challenges make it an attractive hub for drug traffickers.
Haiti acts as a trans-shipment country for drugs, primarily cocaine and cannabis, arriving through public, private and informal ports as well as clandestine runways, and mostly being shipped onwards to North America and Western Europe.
As illicit drug markets expand around the world, and global supply and demand of cocaine reach record highs, the threat of trafficking as a destabilizing factor in Haiti only grows.
These realities undermine prospects for the political process, not to mention the catastrophic implications on efforts to address acute hunger and access to essential services.
The international community and invested partners need to urgently develop and support large-scale comprehensive actions to assist law enforcement and border management, to prevent illicit flows and help stabilize the situation.
This esteemed Council has repeatedly stressed the importance of reinforcing the capacities of the Haiti National Police, including its specialized units focused on borders, drugs, and firearms.
Significant investments are also needed on community policing and criminal justice reform, as well as combatting corruption and money-laundering.
Black markets are relying on corruption and patronage networks to thrive, with a complex web of public and private actors implicated in trafficking, while corruption in the criminal justice sector leads to impunity.
The conditions for a political process leading to peace can only be achieved when Haiti has the institutions and capacities capable of meeting these challenges.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime continues to work with its partners to help lay the foundations for the progress that is needed in Haiti.
Since I last addressed the Council on this topic, UNODC has been fast-tracking its assistance on border management.
Our Office has successfully carried out assessments of six border points, identifying urgent equipment needs, including to support patrolling and maritime domain awareness, and now our Office is procuring the equipment to be provided to national authorities.
In parallel, we are exploring the potential of greater Haitian-Dominican cooperation on border control, to develop mirroring skillsets, vision and commitment. We stand ready to engage with both countries to expand support, but a much greater investment is needed.
UNODC has also continued to support Haiti’s General Customs Administration, and I would like to seize this opportunity to congratulate them on some promising results.
Last month alone, custom revenue collection saw an increase of 44% from the previous month, and a 216% increase as compared to March 2022.
In addition, our Office has been co-operating with the Organization of American States to strengthen Haiti’s capacity to investigate, prosecute and adjudicate cases of corruption, money laundering and economic crimes, as well as to improve information sharing with international investigators on transnational organized crime.
These represent important first steps, but the scale of what is needed in Haiti requires greater international investment and support.
Sustained, comprehensive assistance is needed, complementing any operational support provided to Haiti’s police with a long-term vision to restore criminal justice, border control and customs institutions.
It is through these fundamentals that we can protect Haiti’s people from violence in the long-term, return normalcy and security to their daily lives, and pave the way for more effective efforts to meet basic human needs.
Distinguished members of the Council,
UNODC is encouraged by the establishment of a sanctions regime that will help fight impunity for the crimes committed in Haiti.
We are supporting the panel of experts appointed by this Council and will remain, within mandate and means, at its disposal.
We will also continue to collaborate closely with the BINUH and the office of the SRSG.
Our cooperation has been key to developing effective interventions on border control, corruption, money laundering, criminal justice and rule of law interventions.
As I thank the BINUH, I take this opportunity to welcome SRSG María Isabel Salvador.
I very much look forward to working closely with her, and I assure her that she will have the full support of my Office.
Mesdames et Messieurs,
Nous savons tous à quel point les dimensions politiques, sécuritaires, humanitaires et de développement sont liées et se renforcent mutuellement.
Pour aider Haïti à se doter d'institutions solides en matière de sécurité et de justice et à s’attaquer aux causes profondes de l’instabilité, je tiens également à réaffirmer l'importance d’un soutien financier à la hauteur des défis à relever.
L'ONUDC renforce ses programmes de soutien à Haïti en étroite collaboration avec nos partenaires nationaux, régionaux et internationaux afin que le pays retrouve les bases de paix et de sécurité nécessaires à son développement économique et au bien-être des Haïtiens.
Merci.
