MIPONUH - Report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Civilian Police Mission in Haiti (S/1998/144)

Submitted under resolution 1141 (1997), which created MIPONUH for a single 12-month period ending November 30, 1998 to support the professionalization of the Haitian National Police. Julian Harston took over as Representative and head of the Mission on January 10, 1998. The Secretary-General says the political impasse has left Haiti without a functioning government for more than eight months, with consequences for development, democracy and international cooperation, and appeals to leaders to negotiate an end to the crisis and the electoral dispute.

He says the police keep making steady progress but that without a functioning judicial system its ability to carry out its tasks and to prosecute misconduct is severely limited, and reports of human rights violations and corruption continue. The annex lists 285 personnel as of February 12, 1998, 139 in the special police unit and 146 in the substantive element.