Chinese envoy calls for fundamental adjustment of mandate of UN Haiti mission

UNITED NATIONS, July 15 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Friday called for a strategic assessment and fundamental adjustment of the mandate of the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH).

Haiti has been one of the most complicated and protracted challenges on the Security Council's agenda. UN's engagement in Haiti dates back to the early 1990s. However, 30 years later Haiti is hardly in any better shape. On the contrary, it is caught in a more severe crisis, said Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations.

Last October, thanks to an initiative of China and some other council members, the Security Council requested the UN secretary-general to conduct an assessment of the mandate of BINUH in light of the actual conditions in Haiti, which shall serve as reference for the council to strengthen the mandate in a targeted manner, he said.

Over the past nine months, Haiti's state institutions have been paralyzed across the board. Most of the country has fallen into a security vacuum. Gang violence has become more rampant. And the economic and humanitarian situations have been in free fall. This fully demonstrates that the strategic assessment and fundamental adjustment of the mandate of BINUH are imperative, he added.

Just as the council members were in consultations over the draft resolution, gang clashes broke out near the capital city of Port-au-Prince and the situation has worsened to an appalling state, Zhang said in an explanation of vote after the Security Council adopted a resolution to renew BINUH's mandate.

China, while fully taking into account the recommendations in the secretary-general's assessment report, the strong aspirations of the Haitian people, and the concerns of Haiti's neighbors and countries in the region, has put forward specific reasonable and feasible proposals on advancing the political process, stepping up police capacity-building, combating illicit flows of weapons and finance, and strengthening port and border management, among others, he said.

"We welcome the fact that the draft resolution has taken up many of China's proposals...While the resolution just adopted certainly still has room for improvement, it is nevertheless on the whole a right step in the right direction," said Zhang.

This resolution sets clear expectations on the Haitian authorities and leaders of political parties. It sends clear warnings to the gangs that the Security Council is closely following their actions. It also confers on BINUH a stronger mandate, he noted.

Haiti itself is not a producer of weapons. Yet the weapons possessed by the gangs far out-compete those of the national police in quantity and quality. This indicates that the illicit trafficking and proliferation of weapons are a source of ever-escalating gang violence, Zhang said.

Countries, while supporting Haiti in beefing up its own security capabilities, should also act in coordination and unity by banning the participation of their citizens in the trafficking of weapons to Haiti, and preventing their territories from being used for such purposes. This is a necessary step in effectively containing the violent activities of gangs and the minimum requirement in showing solidarity with the Haitian people, he said.

Regrettably, the resolution has failed to provide for this in the strongest terms. China hopes that this would not send a wrong message to the gangs, urging all countries to effectively strengthen arms export control. China will also work with relevant countries in continuing to push for greater Security Council efforts in this direction, he said.