UN: Kenya-Led Force in Haiti Involved in Four Cases of Sexual Abuse

Is the U.N.'s Haiti mission a cycle of impunity and cover-ups or a zero-tolerance policy in action?

Published APR 4

UN: Kenya-Led Force in Haiti Involved in Four Cases of Sexual Abuse

Story

Above: Police officers from Kenya arrive at Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince on Jan. 18, 2025. Image credit: Clarens Siffroy/AFP/Getty Images

The Facts

The latest U.N. report on special measures for protection from sexual exploitation and abuse states that four allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse involving members of the Kenya-led Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) in Haiti received last year were found to be substantiated.
Breitbart
The Miami Herald
United Nations
This comes as the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights investigated separate incidents against four female victims aged 12 to 18. According to the report, the MSS carried out an internal investigation in the case involving the 12-year-old but actions on the other three cases are listed as pending.
L'union Suite
The Miami Herald
Last year, a spokesperson for the mission dismissed reports that a Kenyan officer had raped a 12-year-old in the department of Artibonite as rumors and propaganda in an interview with a local radio. It's unclear whether the reported case corresponds to the one that has been confirmed.
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PouSiOupaTKonnen
These alleged incidents echo widespread claims of sexual misconduct of peacekeepers during the U.N. Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), which was deployed from 2004 to 2017, with only a few prosecuted by their own home countries.
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Reuters
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Spokespeople for the U.N. said that the cases have been flagged for follow-up with the MSS successor, the Gang Suppression Force (GSF), noting that further action on them was up to the mission itself and the concerned states as it's not under U.N. supervision.
Ayibo Post
Breitbart
CNN
Reuters
The U.N. Security Council authorized the MSS in 2023, with the first deployment to Haiti in June 2024, and restructured the force last September. Over the past week, Kenya received its final contingent of police officers from Haiti, while an advance team from Chad arrived in Port-au-Prince.
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Kenyans.co.ke
Reuters
The Miami Herald

Sources Split

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The Spin

Narrative A

The U.N. has conveniently — and outrageously — washed its hands of accountability when abuse happens, claiming that the mission in Haiti that the organization has authorized isn't actually a U.N. mission. These four confirmed cases of sexual exploitation expose a system built to evade justice. Suspects get sent home while victims get silenced, and the cycle of impunity that plagued MINUSTAH is repeating itself.

Le Quotidien 509

Jake Johnston on X

Narrative B

The U.N. isn't dodging accountability, quite the contrary. The organization is actively investigating and referring cases for disciplinary action. All four allegations from the Haiti mission were substantiated and handed to commanders for remedial measures, while over 390 human rights defenders were trained on victim protections and witness engagement. That's a zero-tolerance policy in action, not a cover-up.

United Nations