Policing against sexual violence in Haiti
The anthem of the Haitian National Police sounds loudly. The banner hanging from the podium announces that this is the International Seminar on Sexual and Gender Based Violence investigation in Haiti, flowers decorate the stairs up to the stage, and the forceful song challenges the capacity of the speakers. ‘Vive la femme haïtienne!’
Sexual crimes is a salient issue in Haiti. The occurrence of SGBV is a particular challenge for vulnerable groups, like displaced women and girls, and those living in the shantytowns of the capital city, Port-au-Prince. However, it is also a more entrenched problem Haitian society and in the justice system, and victims of domestic and sexual violence severely under-report these crimes.
The seminar was concluded with panel debate, where the discussion centred on the enforcement and enhancing of the judicial chain. The discussion was chaired by Madame Maguy Florestal, Judge and Director of Studies at the Magistrate School.
It is September and time for the annual International Seminar on Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) Investigation in Haiti in the capital city, Port-au-Prince. The opening ceremony is formal and busy; hands are shaken, salutes are performed, and photos are taken. It proceeds with speeches by the Director General of the Haitian National Police, the Chief of the Human Rights section in MINUSTAH (the United Nations Stabilizing Mission in Haiti), and a representative from the Norwegian Embassy in Cuba covering the Caribbean. They talk about international police cooperation through the UN, the struggle to combat sexual crimes in Haiti, and Norway’s important contribution in funding the SGBV unit’s work.
Enhancing the dialogue between police and justice
The seminar is about how to enhance the capacity to investigate SGBV, from getting victims to trust in the system and report these crimes, to police investigation and judges’ ruling. Among the pointing of fingers and complaints over technical aspects, there is one area of consensus: We need better dialogue between the different actors in the justice system. This is why this seminar for the last years has gathered around 100 police officers from all over the country, and this year a record number of 30 judges.
As an international seminar, the event is an interesting display of different police cultures, and a forum for knowledge exchange. Police officers from Benin, Central African Republic, Norway, and France present how they work on different aspects of SGBV investigation, from the crime scene and interventions in conflict settings, to interrogation techniques and the chain of justice. They all have the same goal: to prevent, investigate and prosecute sexual crimes. As the only ‘civilian’ international contributor, I presented my research on the Haitian truth commission, which was one of the world’s first to focus on sexual violence against women, after a brutal military regime in the early 1990s. This study was part of the CMI project ‘Beyond Words’, and showed, above all, how the demand for justice is not new in Haiti.
This international seminar is also an important meeting place for national police officers, judges, civil society organisations, as well as MINUSTAH staff and others working on the issue of SGBV in Haiti. Several esteemed and central voices on the Haitian scene of SGBV issues contributed to the seminar, and created lively debate. Madame Milhouse Massillon, in charge of the gender unit in MINUSTAH, introduced both the issue and concept of SGBV in Haiti, while two female judges spurred debate on gender equality and the systemic discrimination of female victims of any violence. Gendered sexual violence was debated, both in discussion and panel, and the issue examined through the concrete examples of refugees and human trafficking.
The SGBV unit and the future of the UN in Haiti
The SGBV unit is a specialised police unit consisting of police officers from Norway and Canada, contributing with specific knowledge on how to investigate SGBV issues. The unit’s work with the Haitian National Police aims at training and capacity building of police officers all over Haiti. This unit is directly funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and is as such a pioneering model for financing and police contribution to UN peacekeeping operations. To read more about the SGBV unit in MINUSTAH, see NUPI’s 2016 Working Paper.
A sequence of UN missions has been deployed in Haiti for over 13 years. This October the MINUSTAH mission ended – to be replaced by another. The United Nations Mission for Justice Support in Haiti, MINUJUSTH, is the beginning of yet another UN mission in Haiti. The change is a shift from a focus to stabilise to a focus on enhancing the justice system. MINUJUSTH is mandated to “assist the Government of Haiti to further develop the Haitian National Police (HNP); to strengthen Haiti’s rule of law institutions, including the justice and prisons; and to promote and protect human rights – all with a view to improving the everyday lives of the Haitian people.” The SGBV unit will continue its work until 2018, and will work more closely with the leadership of the Haitian National Police. The seminar was a serious attempt at enhancing the dialogue between the two pillars of the SGBV problematique in Haiti; the police and the justice. Time will show what this renewed focus on enhancing justice in Haiti will mean for the efforts to combat sexual crimes and women’s access to justice without discrimination.
Lisa-Marie Måseidvåg Selvik, November 2017