adminStabilising Mission in Haiti as proposed by the UN general secretary Ban Ki-moon.
According to the proposal, the number of soldiers and policemen will go to the level they were before the earthquake that devastated the country on January 2010, which caused more than 300 000 deaths and close to two million victims. According to the UN official, the reduction would not undermine progress on security nor MINUSTAH’s duties.
In a report to the UN Security Council, Ban proposed the withdrawal of 1 600 soldiers (two infantry battalions in those zones with lower risks plus those not needed in other military units).
The report also asks for the withdrawal of 1 150 policemen from four units founded after the earthquake. The withdrawal should end on June 2012 and it will be held according to the present rotation calendar of the soldiers, said the UN official.
Herve Ladsous, chief of the UN peace operations declared in a press conference that the decision is related to the accusations against MINUSTAH as responsible for the outbreak of cholera in the country.
It has nothing to do with the recent reports of sexual abuse allegedly committed by Uruguayan blue helmets in relation to a young Haitian, he added.
The report also refers to the delay of the process in the establishment of the government of the Caribbean nation and urges Haitian political forces to assume the necessary commitments for an agreement. MINUSTAH is composed of staff from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Ecuador, the United States, Philippines, France, Guatemala, Japan, Jordan, Nepal, Paraguay, Peru, South Korea,
Sri Lanka and Uruguay. – Prensa Latina.
Sidumisile Mabena
Online Reporter