U.N. Security Council to Establish 300-Member Police Mission in Haiti

The Security Council agreed Friday to establish a 300-member international police mission in Haiti to carry on its years-long campaign for democracy in the Caribbean country.

The unanimous decision came two days before the last of 1,300 U.N. peacekeepers were to leave Haiti and end a military presence that began in March 1995, when the peacekeepers took over from a U.S. force.

Before the vote, U.S. Deputy Ambassador Peter Burleigh said the United States will provide 50 of the civilian police, as well as helicopters and a medical unit.

“The government of Haiti is fast approaching full responsibility for public safety,” Burleigh said. “But despite the progress, obstacles remain. The Haitian national police still needs help in dealing with ruthless gangs, drug traffickers and political groups that seek to manipulate the police for their own ends.”

U.S. troops entered the country in September 1994, removing a military junta and reinstalling Jean-Bertrand Aristide as president. Aristide had been elected president in 1990 but was arrested and expelled nine months later.

The 300 U.N. police will remain in Haiti through November of next year to help professionalize the Haitian National Police. Most of the U.N. force will come from the United States, Canada and France.

Haiti’s national police force was established in 1995 to replace a corrupt and brutal army.