Kenya's High Court Rules Deployment of Kenyan Police to Haiti Unconstitutional

The High Court of Kenya ruled on January 26 that the deployment of 1,000 Kenyan police to Haiti as part of a UN-sponsored Multinational Security Support Mission (MSSM) is unconstitutional and illegal. The ruling followed a complaint filed by Kenyan Member of Parliament and leader of the Third Way Alliance Party Ekuru Auko.

In his ruling, Justice Enoch Chacha Mwita said: "The National Security Council has no mandate to deploy national police officers outside Kenya. Such a decision contravenes the Constitution and the law, and is therefore unconstitutional, illegal and invalid. An order is hereby issued prohibiting the deployment of police forces to Haiti or any other country."

In October 2023, Kenya's National Security Council, under Kenyan President William Ruto, had requested Parliament's approval for the deployment of this force which was approved a month later by the National Assembly. Kenya had agreed to this mission following months-long efforts by the U.S., using threats and blackmail against countries in the Caribbean, Latin America and Africa to lead such a mission under the flag of the UN. The U.S. hopes to give legitimacy to further foreign intervention in the affairs of the Haitian people, but Haitians have rejected it outright.

The Kenyan government intends to appeal the decision of the High Court. If it loses in the Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court will make the final decision on whether deployment of Kenyan police to Haiti is legal under the constitution.

Haitians have repeatedly demonstrated in large numbers demanding no foreign intervention and that Haitians have the right to decide their own affairs. Many human rights organizations in Haiti support this demand and opposed any UN intervention. Rosy Auguste Ducena, a lawyer and program director at the National Network for the Defense of Human Rights in Haiti, said: "History has shown us more than once that foreign forces bring us more problems than solutions." The Groupe de Travail sur la Securite, a Haitian citizen-led, security think-tank, also rejected the prospect of a new UN deployment "under the false pretext of helping us restore a climate of security." Haitians in Canada and the U.S. have also organized to demand, Hands Off Haiti!

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This article was published in

Volume 54 Number 13 - February 23, 2024

Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2024/Articles/MS541316.HTM

Website:  www.cpcml.ca   Email:  editor@cpcml.ca