The Haiti Support Group today wrote to the United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) asking for clarification on the number of officers in the Haitian National Police force (HNP). The letter draws attention to the widely varying totals referred to by the interim government and by international organisations, and asks if anyone is sure exactly how many police officers there are in Haiti.

The interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue has made frequent references to the insufficient size of the HNP. His most recent remark was in mid-April when, according to the Reuters news agency, Latortue told visiting members of the U.N. Security Council that the 3,500-strong Haitian police force needed more help.

This figure is contradicted by other, seemingly reliable, reports which cite quite different totals:
- The Organisation of American States mission in Haiti, in its third quarterly report, states that "recruitment in the HNP continued, reaching a total of 5,500 active officers in late February..."
- The International Crisis Group in its briefing on Haiti published in February refers to interviews with the HNP General Director on 19-20 January 2005 during which he is reported to have stated his confidence in the "competence and loyalty of only one third of his present 4,000 officers".
- The Small Arms Survey in its April report on disarmament in Haiti refers to "estimates generated by MINUSTAH and the interim Government" that "indicate that there are approximately 5,000 HNP officers..."

The Haiti Support Group's director, Charles Arthur, said, "These discrepancies are worrying enough - why doesn't anybody seem to know the exact number? But what is worse is that a very reliable source has informed us that the interim government has been issuing, and is continuing to issue, monthly pay cheques to some 6,000 members of the HNP!"

Arthur continued, "The first point is, does the MINUSTAH know exactly how many serving members of the HNP there really are, and if it does not know, why not? It has been in Haiti for nearly one year, and one of the most important elements of its mandate under Resolution 1542 is the reform and restructuring of the HNP. How can the HNP be reorganised, how can its personnel be vetted, if no one is even sure how many officers it has?"

U.N. Resolution 1542 authorises the deployment of the MINUSTAH to establish a secure and stable environment, and specifically:
"to assist the Transitional Government in monitoring, restructuring and reforming the Haitian National Police, consistent with democratic policing standards, including through the vetting and certification of its personnel, advising on its reorganization and training, including gender training, as well as monitoring/mentoring members of the Haitian National Police."

The letter - addressed to the U.N special envoy to Haiti, Juan Valdes, and the head of the MINUSTAH civilian police, David Beer - also makes reference the recent media reports in which U.S. officials acknowledge that in August 2004 the U.S. government gave 2,657 weapons to bolster the Haitian police force, and that the U.S. State Department is now considering a request by the Haitian government to approve the sale of an additional US$1.9 million in weapons this year from a U.S.-based arms dealer. The Haiti Support Group is concerned that these arms are being delivered to a police force which is not being properly monitored by the MINUSTAH, and could be used to commit more of the human rights abuses that members of the HNP have already been accused of.

The Haiti Support Group letter also raises the issues of transparency and corruption, remarking that apparently the interim government is telling the MINUSTAH there are 5,000 members but, at the same time, it is issuing monthly cheques to 6,000. Arthur asked, "Are there people pocketing the salaries disbursed to 1,000 non-existent police officers - and, if so, who are they? Or is the money being used to fund some other 'security force' that the MINUSTAH is not being informed about?

The Haiti Support Group is a UK-based solidarity organisation that has been working in defence of human rights and against impunity in Haiti since 1992.

Update: 3 May 2005

The Haiti Support Group (HSG) request for clarification on police numbers has not received a response from the MINUSTAH, but here are some interesting responses that have come to us....

Human Rights Watch understands from an international source in Haiti that the number of currently functioning police officers is anywhere between 3,000 and 4,000.

Joe Mozingo in The Miami Herald, April 28, 2005, wrote that there are 4,000 police officers. (The article also made reference to a total of 750 new recruits that have graduated from the police academy since February 2004.)

The HSG understands from a reliable source that in early March the head of the police academy said that there were probably 3,000 PNH officers.

Yet another source tells the HSG that as of mid-April, Leon Charles, the head of the PNH, was saying there are 4,500 officers.

The OAS mission in Haiti believes that the number it reported - about 5,500 active officers - is correct, and that there are a further 500 administrative staff, giving a total pay-roll of 6,000.

So, there we are then....

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