UN experts estimate up to 4,000 Rwandan soldiers fight alongside M23 rebels in Congo
Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi, along with US and UN experts, have accused Rwanda of giving military backing to M23. Rwanda denies the claim, but in February it effectively admitted that it has troops and missile systems in eastern Congo to safeguard its security, pointing to a buildup of Congolese forces near the border.
New report says Kenyan police force and their Haitian hosts retake largest public hospital from gangs
Rameau Normil, the new head of the Haiti National Police, says police took control of the Hospital of the State University of Haiti, also known as the General Hospital, on Sunday night. In their effort to topple Haiti’s previous governments, armed groups have torched and looted more than 30 private and public health facilities in metropolitan Port-au-Prince since February 29.
Kenyan police force in Haiti promises ‘no room for failure’ against powerful gangs
The UN-backed mission, to which the United States has pledged over $300 million in support, has been questioned from the start. At home, Kenyan police have long been accused by watchdogs and witnesses of human rights abuses, including in recent protests.
Israeli bombardments split Gaza in two as civilians, relief agencies reset lives, aid efforts
The OCHA official outlined the challenges for aid workers, explaining that before the war, the humanitarian hub was in Gaza City, in the north.
How past abuse-ridden foreign interventions feed fears in Haiti that Kenyan forces are US pawns
Fears of a new occupation are still strong among Haitians, many of whom hold the US responsible for the current chaos. The US supported Henry and is often perceived as having propped up a corrupt elite with links to gangs they sometimes trained, and to have done little to stop the massive smuggling of weapons and munitions into Haiti.
Gang violence in Haiti drops as Kenyan police start street patrols but fears of trouble linger
Several hundred Kenyan police officers landed in Port-au-Prince on June 25, four months after gangs joined forces in a coalition called Viv Ansanm (Live Together) on February 29, starting a rebellion that plunged the country into violent chaos and forcing acting prime minister Ariel Henry to flee, then resign.
PM Conille terms first days of Kenyan police presence in Haiti encouraging and crucial to fighting gangs
Kenya’s Kinyungu and Foreign Minister Roberto Álvarez Gil of the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, also called for countries that have made pledges to the fund to deposit the money. Álvarez Gil said this should be done “as soon as possible.”
Haitian PM Garry Conille travels to US as Kenyan police officers patrol capital Port-au-Prince
As armed khaki-clad Kenyan police in bullet-proof jackets and helmets patrolled the city in black armoured vans, Port-au-Prince residents said they hoped the force could stop the indiscriminate killings and allow business to restart.
Who has authority in Haiti? Kenya police history of human rights abuses looms over Haiti mission
Ahead of the deployment, the International Committee of the Red Cross started reaching out to the PNH and the Kenyan police to convey its humanitarian concerns to the stakeholders. According to Marisela Silva Chau, head of the ICRC in Haiti, the PNH has been taking part in some meetings held by the HCT and a liaison cell created several months ago by the UN’s emergency aid coordination body, OCHA.
Kenya police peacekeepers land in Haiti finally amid concerns about how they will restore order as ‘nothing clearly established’
The roots of Haiti’s problems date back to colonial times. Although the Caribbean nation became the world’s first Black republic in 1804, it was forced to pay billions to France in order to secure its freedom. That debt crippled Haiti economically and – combined with decades of dictatorships, natural disasters, political and environmental mismanagement, a long US military occupation, and a debilitating US trade embargo – contributed to its recent turmoil.
