VZCZCXRO3954
PP RUEHQU
DE RUEHPU #1235/01 1971843
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 161843Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6520
INFO RUEHZH/HAITI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 1590
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA PRIORITY 1409
RUEHQU/AMCONSUL QUEBEC PRIORITY 0850
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM J2 MIAMI FL PRIORITY
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 1259

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT AU PRINCE 001235 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/EX AND WHA/CAR 
S/CRS 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR 
INR/IAA 
WHA/EX PLEASE PASS USOAS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL ASEC MARR MOPS KCRM HA KPKO
SUBJECT: MINUSTAH CONFIDENT IN ABILITY TO KEEP PEACE IN 
CITE SOLEIL 
 
REF: A. PORT AU PRINCE 1173 
     ¶B. PORT AU PRINCE 642 
 
PORT AU PR 00001235  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (U)  This message is sensitive but unclassified -- please 
protect accordingly. 
 
¶2. (SBU)  Summary:  Cite Soleil is calm for the moment, but 
MINUSTAH troops emphasize the need for Haitian National 
Police (HNP) presence to control persistent crime.  MINUSTAH 
is conducting more foot patrols than ever and including HNP 
officers in more of those patrols.  The approximately 40 HNP 
officers assigned to Cite Soleil are temporarily stationed in 
a neighboring area and do not enter Cite Soleil, with the 
exception of two officers posted at a MINUSTAH strong point 
in the heart of Cite Soleil.  MINUSTAH has increased patrols 
in the areas of NGO projects and will continue to protect 
those sites.  However, MINUSTAH plans to refurbish a local 
sub-commissariat are stalled.  A new concern is that local 
government officials have taken security into their own 
hands, hiring private militias to accompany them around town. 
 HNP has thus far been able to justify their limited presence 
in Cite Soleil, but the underlying problem may be that the 
neighborhood is not one of their pressing priorities.  End 
summary. 
 
¶3. (U)  Poloff on July 12 attended the weekly Cite Soleil 
security coordination meeting at Strong Point 16 (SP16). 
This group meets weekly to confer on security and to lay out 
daily HNP and MINUSTAH patrol routes through Cite Soleil. 
MINUSTAH Civil Affairs coordinator for red zones 
Jean-Philippe Laberge chaired the meeting.  Other attendees 
included two Canadian UNPol, HNP Western Department Director 
(DDO) Stanley Jean Brice, and approximately 15 members of the 
Brazilian battalion (BraBat) permanently posted in Cite 
Soleil, including battalion commander Colonel Sales.  Members 
of POL, INL, HSI and RSO sections represented post. 
 
Police Patrols Stepped Up 
---------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU)  BraBat officer Major Bolfoni announced that a new 
joint patrol schedule started on July 12, with regular HNP 
officers patrolling with UNPol and BraBat from 0800 to 2200 
everyday.  He characterized the situation as ''very calm,'' 
and reported a small number of arrests.  UNPol director for 
the west department Daniel Allard (Canada) said that in early 
June HNP UDMO (riot police) began patrolling with BraBat from 
0600 to 1800, and two regular HNP began staffing SP16 during 
the daytime hours.  DDO Brice stated that in sum four HNP 
officers and 10 UDMO patrol with MINUSTAH.  UN security 
reported that the population of Cite Soleil has been 
welcoming of the HNP and cooperative with the soldiers 
patrolling on foot. 
 
¶5. (SBU)  Allard stated that there are 40 HNP officers 
assigned to Cite Soleil who remain ''in exile'' in nearby 
Cazeau because they have no commissariat, no vehicles and no 
protective equipment.  DDO Brice said that these officers 
would not deploy to Cite Soleil until they received body 
armor. 
 
More Police Needed 
---------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU)  Laberge characterized the security situation as 
transforming from a military operation to confront gang 
members who openly carried illegal weapons to a policing 
phase which is less suited to BraBat's military capabilities. 
 Remaining gang members now carry legal weapons (machetes) 
and run extortion rackets, a crime which requires police 
investigation.  Laberge said that BraBat makes arrests 
overnight when there is no police presence, which makes it 
difficult to build a case against criminals because there is 
no investigator to collect evidence and follow up with 
witnesses.  Many criminals, therefore, go free.  He 
emphasized that BraBat's job is to pacify the area, not to 
carry out police investigations. 
 
 
PORT AU PR 00001235  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
Improved Protection for NGO Projects 
---------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU)  Laberge transmitted to BraBat a word of thanks from 
the International Organization for Migration (IOM) for recent 
increased foot patrols near IOM project sites in Soleil 7, 9 
and 11.  Laberge said that BraBat is responding to specific 
complaints from NGOs of security incidents (ref A).  He also 
agreed to work with BraBat and HNP on a plan to protect the 
tribunal on National Route 1 and the National School, which 
were both recently refurbished by IOM. 
 
MINUSTAH Projects Shelved 
---------------- 
 
¶8. (U)  Laberge said that the Tebo warehouse on National 
Route 1 bordering Cite Soleil, once intended to house many 
branches of MINUSTAH as well as HNP (ref B), will now be 
exclusively a military base for BraBat.  HNP rejected 
MINUSTAH's offer to occupy part of Tebo, stating that they 
would rather wait until they can work from a commissariat 
inside Cite Soleil. 
 
¶9. (SBU)  MINUSTAH Civil Affairs has not progressed with the 
planned refurbishment of a sub-commissariat on National Route 
1 because HNP director general Mario Andresol would not sign 
an agreement on the project, saying that the station only 
holds seven officers and is therefore too small to have any 
impact.  Civil Affairs still has USD 25,000 set aside for the 
project, but has no plans to move forward. 
 
Mayor Forms Private Militia 
---------------- 
 
¶10. (SBU)  Laberge gave an update on a recent tension between 
MINUSTAH and the mayor of Cite Soleil, Louis Wilson, who has 
formed his own municipal security force, which Laberge 
referred to as a ''militia,'' that was escorting the mayor 
carrying rifles and shotguns.  At MINUSTAH's request, Wilson 
agreed to dismiss the guards and instead ask HNP for 
protection, but DDO Brice said he had not been asked to 
provide any protection to the mayor.  BraBat reported that as 
of July 11 the mayor no longer had gun-carrying men 
accompanying him through town, and that they would continue 
to be on the lookout for this problem.  (Post will report 
septel on the phenomenon of municipal security forces in 
Haiti.) 
 
¶11. (SBU)  Comment:  HNP leadership offers an understandable 
rationale for not moving into Cite Soleil.  The underlying 
problem, however, might be a divergence between DG Andresol's 
priorities and our own.  At a time when HNP resources are 
being pulled in many different directions, Cite Soleil does 
not represent a major source of instability that threatens 
the wider Port-au-Prince population.  On the other hand, Cite 
Soleil is important to the international community because of 
our intensifying development projects in the area, and 
because peace in Cite Soleil remains a symbolic achievement 
for Haiti.  Establishing HNP presence is the key element in 
smoothing the transition between military operations and 
government control.  The HNP will likely have added pressure 
from President Preval, who has told Ambassador he wants a 
strong police presence in Cite Soleil.  In the interim, 
judging from post's regular visits to Cite Soleil, the 
atmosphere is indeed calm.  In carrying out our assistance 
programs, we are confident in BraBat's ability to maintain 
peace and respond quickly to reports of security incidents. 
SANDERSON