Last week, as senior government officials from across the region met on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly to discuss Haiti, Jamaica’s top diplomat, Kamina Johnson Smith, offered a blunt assessment of some bottlenecks hampering efforts to root out armed gangs.

Some countries have personnel able to provide intelligence support, but do not have the software, she said. Others have naval and coast guard personnel who could be deployed, but have no vessels. There is equipment, she added, but no airlift.

The list underscored some of the practical challenges facing the latest armed international mission in Haiti, the Gang Suppression Force, whose fate came before the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday.

“The personnel need the right equipment to deploy and operate,” said Daniela Kroslak, a U.N. assistant secretary-general and head of the U.N. Support Office in Haiti responsible, among other things,for helping get the forces to Port-au-Prince. “That is an important aspect.”

The Gang Suppression Force was authorized a year ago for 5,500 personnel and was pitched as a much more robust force than its predecessor, the police-led Multinational Security Support mission headed by Kenya.

The Kenya-led force never achieved the 2,500 personnel it was supposed to have before departing Haiti in April. And while there are more gang-fighting soldiers in Haiti today, the new force’s slow buildup remains a frustration.

Still, Krosklak said she believes it’s worth pursuing.

“Yes, there have been delays, and I think people understand what these delays are, but I think this model still needs to showcase what it can do,” said Kroslak, who was in New York last week.

“The whole architecture needs to prove that it can deliver,” she added. “The delays are, of course, frustrating, considering that the security situation has not improved and has deteriorated to some extent, and the gangs have been able to adapt to the arrival” of the gang-fighting force. “But I think it’s worth extending.”

Members of the Security Council ultimately agreed with her, voting to extend the force’s mandate and its logistical backbone, the U.N. Support Office, for six months, until March 31. While 12 countries voted in favor of the resolution and there were no votes against, China, the Russian Federation and Pakistan abstained on the resolution, which was drafted by the U.S. and Panama.

Ambassador Sun Lei, China’s deputy permanent representative, said his country is concerned about the crisis in Haiti but has always “had its doubts and concerns” about whether resorting to external military force to suppress or even neutralize gangs is the right way to solve the security plight.

“This position remains unchanged,” he said. “The crisis in Haiti is not a simple security question, but rather deep-seated problems of state governance.”

Russia also questioned the use of force in solving Haiti’s problems. Vassily A. Nebenzia, the country’s permanent representative, said Russia’s concerns about the gang-fighting force model, as well as the mechanisms for financing and staffing it, still have not been addressed.

“Implementation of this initiative has encountered virtually the full range of problems that were known in advance: difficulties in finding and preparing the necessary contingents, ensuring sustainable financing and the unclear legal status of the newly created mission,” he said. “As a result, the deployment of units has been delayed, which in turn has postponed the country’s preparations for the long-promised general elections, while crime continues to reign in the streets of Port-au-Prince and other cities.”

Nebenzia also noted that the contingents deployed to participate in the force are geared toward carrying out traditional peacekeeping tasks.

“In Haiti, however, they will have to confront the reality of street fighting against an unscrupulous enemy that does not abide by the rules of conventional warfare — Haitian gangs,” he said. “Until that happens, it will be difficult for the Council to assess their effectiveness and their contribution to security in the country.”

Not U.N. peacekeeping mission

The gang-fighting force was intentionally constructed to be different from the Kenyan-led mission or a traditional peacekeeping force. For example, responsibility for generating forces rests with a Standing Group of Partners, led primarily by the U.S. and including Jamaica, The Bahamas, Canada, Guatemala and El Salvador.

A “Tiger team” is responsible for determining the personnel and equipment needed, and ultimately deciding who will deploy and with what equipment.

But even that process has not always gone smoothly. For one, the war in the Middle East has presented an unforeseen challenge as equipment that would normally be transported by sea suddenly has to be moved by air, which Kroslak labeled “incredibly more expensive.”

As of Aug. 31, there were 1,166 uniformed personnel from six countries in Haiti, Jack Christofides, the special representative of the force, said in a report to the Security Council. Four bases have been established, including in Gonaïves, marking the force’s first deployment outside of Port-au-Prince.

The force is conducting intelligence-led patrols and joint operations with the Haiti National Police and has concluded key institutional agreements with the government of Haiti. Civilians have been able to move about again in some areas, he said, but noted that gains “remain constrained by persistent operational challenges.... Addressing these constraints will be critical to maintaining operational momentum and achieving broader and more durable security effects.”

While Haitians have seen a decrease in the profile and prominence of some gang leaders like Jimmy Chérizier, also known as “Barbecue,” the head of the G9, and Vitel’homme Innocent of the Kraze Baryè gang in the Tabarre neighborhood of Port-au-Prince in recent months, they’ve also seen an increase in militarization of gangs who have fired at GSF soldiers as they patrol parts of the capital.

This week, members of the force were reminded of the country’s challenging environment when gangs were involved in another violent attack since the force began deploying in early April with an advanced team of Chadian soldiers..

The attack in the Artibonite region, where Sri Lankan soldiers are currently deployed, left at least 11 people dead, a local mayor, Hubert Ceneac, told Radio Kiskeya.

Ceneac said that attack happened after the Sri Lankans pushed back gang members who had set up an illegal toll collection. Three gang members died in the operation, the force reported, and there were no casualties among force members.

The Sri Lankan soldiers remained in the area for several hours to monitor the situation before returning to their base in Gonaïves. ‘”Reports later indicated that gang members targeted civilians in the area” after the troops left, the force added.

Ceneac said the bandits attacked in retaliation. “They killed and burned homes,” he told the radio station. The area is a stronghold of the Kokorat Sans Ras gang.

In the report to the Security Council, Christofides said that Kokorat San Ras and Gran Grif remain the principal gangs in the Artibonite, “retaining the ability to disrupt freedom of movement and state authority across a wide area.”

He said that while security operations have disrupted gang activities and inflicted losses, the gangs retain the ability to recruit, adapt and re-establish positions in contested areas.

Christofides pushed in June for a two-year renewal of the force.

A new model, new strategy

Michael Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., said after Tuesday’s vote that the gang-fighting force represents “trying something genuinely different” that is beginning to work.

“For decades, the international community has watched Haiti cycle through crisis after crisis. Missions have come and gone. Billions of dollars have, candidly, been spent by many of the countries in this room,” he said. “Valiant efforts—well-meaning efforts, to be sure. But now we have a situation where the gangs have taken over. They’ve gotten stronger, Haitian institutions weaker, and everyday people in Haiti and in the region, and even in our own countries, have paid the price.”

The countries of Cote d’Ivoire, Sierra Leone and Peru have all pledged resources, Waltz said.

“We now have to keep the momentum. Troops are still arriving,” he said. “We’ve only just begun.”

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