Kenyan Court Rules Deployment of Police to Haiti Illegal

GOOBJOOG NEWS | NAIROBI: The Kenyan High Court in Nairobi Friday issued a ruling declaring the deployment of police officers to fight gangs in Haiti illegal.

The judge argued that the deployment would be illegal as the National Security Council lacks the legal authority to send police outside Kenya adding that the council can only deploy armed forces for peacekeeping missions.

He further explained that Kenyan law only allows the government to deploy police officers to another country if a reciprocal agreement exists between Kenya and the host nation.

Last October, The U.N Security Council gave its approval for Kenya to command a multinational mission to combat violent gangs in the troubled Caribbean country, after the East African Nation volunteered to lead a multinational security force in Haiti to quell gang violence.

Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry had requested the UN to urgently deploy a multinational force, saying his government had been overwhelmed by gangs who controlled 80% of the capital, Port-au-Prince.

The UN Security Council backed Kenya’s offer to lead the force and Kenyan lawmakers went on to approve the deployment.

However, the suitability of Kenyan police for the deployment had raised concerns over possible human rights violations.

Nicole Widdersheim, Deputy Washington director at Human Rights Watch, told the BBC they had documented Kenyan police violence, including murders, since 2013.

She added that there has been a long history of international armed intervention in Haiti really doing “a lot of terrible things”.

The Kenyan government has denied any allegations of human rights violations by its officers.

Additional reporting by agencies