Current:Home > StocksKenya’s high court rules that deploying nation’s police officers to Haiti is unconstitutional-InfoLens
Kenya’s high court rules that deploying nation’s police officers to Haiti is unconstitutional
View Date:2024-12-23 14:30:06
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenya’s high court on Friday blocked the U.N.-backed deployment of Kenyan police officers to Haiti to help the Caribbean country bring gang violence under control.
Judge Chacha Mwita said Kenya’s National Security Council, which is led by the president, does not have the authority to deploy regular police outside the country. Kenya’s parliament passed a motion in November allowing the deployment of 1,000 officers to lead a multinational force in Haiti.
“It is not contested that there is no reciprocal arrangement between Kenya and Haiti and for that reason, there can be no deployment of police to that country,” Mwita said.
The judge said Kenya’s offer was noble but needed to be carried out in accordance with the constitution.
Mwita made the ruling in response to an application from Thirdway Alliance Party leader Ekuru Aukot, who argued that the government’s plan to send the officers to Haiti was illegal.
Kenyan government spokesperson Isaac Mwaura said it will appeal the decision.
The decision was considered by many to be a blow to Haiti, which first requested the immediate deployment of a foreign armed force in October 2022.
“This is terrible news for Haitians,” said Diego Da Rin of the International Crisis Group. “The vast majority of the population was waiting for external help to assist the police regain some control of the capital and the areas most affected by violence.”
Mercy Corps Country Director for Haiti, Laurent Uwumuremyi, supported the High Court’s decision saying that previous international peacekeeping missions — such as the U.N. mission MINUSTAH that was deployed there 2004-2017 — and international interventions have had disastrous consequences for Haiti.
“Solutions for Haiti, including those to bolster the Haitian National Police and the army to tamp down violence and return some semblance of security, should be led by Haitians,” Uwumuremyi said.
He said another international intervention might inadvertently worsen the situation, exposing more people to violence.
“It is critical that any intervention is done to restore stability, respects human rights and humanitarian laws, and does not jeopardize or hinder aid operations or worsen the violence,” he said.
An unprecedented surge in gang violence is plaguing Haiti, with the number of victims killed, injured and kidnapped more than doubling last year, the U.N. secretary-general’s special envoy for the country said Thursday.
“I cannot overstress the severity of the situation in Haiti, where multiple protracted crises have reached a critical point,” envoy Maria Isabel Salvador told the U.N. Security Council.
She said the 8,400 victims of gang violence documented by her office last year — 122% more than in 2022 — were mainly targeted by gangs in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince.
Some 300 gangs control an estimated 80% of the capital and accounted for 83% of last year’s killings and injuries, Salvador said. She said they have expanded north into the Artibonite region, considered Haiti’s food basket, and south of the capital, where “gangs conducted large-scale attacks to control key zones” and systematically use sexual violence to exert control.
Guy Philippe, a former rebel leader in Haiti, implored Kenyans in a video message this week not to allow their police or military be deployed to Haiti.
Philippe said the Haitian people view Kenyans as their fellow African brothers but if the police were deployed to the Caribbean, Kenya’s people would become the “enemies” of Haitians because they would be seen as supporting an illegitimate government.
“We have a government here in Haiti that has no legitimacy, no one loves them. This government is helping gangs, killing innocent people, kidnapping and serving the interest of imperialism,” he said.
Philippe served nine years in a U.S. prison following a guilty plea to a money laundering charge. He is best known for leading a 2004 rebellion against former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and masterminding attacks on police stations.
Earlier this month, his supporters launched protests that paralyzed some cities across Haiti as they demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
Kenyan authorities told The Associated Press last month that the first group of about 300 officers was expected to arrive in Haiti by February. Kenya’s contribution would eventually rise to 1,000 officers at the head of a 3,000-strong multinational force.
Burundi, Chad, Senegal, Jamaica and Belize also have pledged troops for the mission.
___
Associated Press Writer Dánica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico contributed to this article
veryGood! (628)
Related
- Burger King is giving away a million Whoppers for $1: Here's how to get one
- Bleacher Report class-action settlement to pay out $4.8 million: How to file a claim
- I'm the parent of a trans daughter. There's nothing conservative about blocking her care.
- A romance turned deadly or police frame job? Closing arguments loom in Karen Read trial
- Judge moves to slash $38 million verdict in New Hampshire youth center abuse case
- Supreme Court rejects appeal from Josh Duggar, former reality TV star convicted of child porn charges
- Savannah Chrisley Speaks Out After Mom Julie's 7-Year Prison Sentence Is Overturned
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, In the Weeds
- New Yorkers vent their feelings over the election and the Knicks via subway tunnel sticky notes
- Why did everyone suddenly stop using headphones in public?
Ranking
- Relive Pregnant Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly's Achingly Beautiful Romance
- Shot in 1.6 seconds: Video raises questions about how trooper avoided charges in Black man’s death
- Don’t understand your 401(k)? You’re not alone, survey shows.
- Takeaways from AP’s report on new footage from the fatal shooting of a Black motorist in Georgia
- SNL's Chloe Fineman Says Rude Elon Musk Made Her Burst Into Tears as Show Host
- Fire at South Korea battery factory kills more than 20 workers in Hwaseong city, near Seoul
- Chicago woman missing in Bahamas after going for yoga certification retreat, police say
- She needed an abortion. In post-Roe America, it took 21 people and two states to help her.
Recommendation
-
Real Housewives of New York City Star’s Pregnancy Reveal Is Not Who We Expected
-
On heartland roads, and a riverboat, devout Catholics press on with two-month nationwide pilgrimage
-
Pirates of the Caribbean Actor Tamayo Perry Dead at 49 After Shark Attack in Hawaii
-
Low-Emission ‘Gas Certification’ Is Greenwashing, Climate Advocates Conclude in a Contested New Report
-
Cruise ship rescues 4 from disabled catamaran hundreds of miles off Bermuda, officials say
-
Chicago woman missing in Bahamas after going for yoga certification retreat, police say
-
For Tesla’s futuristic new Cybertruck, a fourth recall
-
What is Saharan dust and how will a large wave of it heading for Florida affect storms?