Kenya’s government is challenging findings from a United Nations investigation that confirmed sexual abuse allegations against personnel in a UN-supported anti-gang operation in Haiti, which consists primarily of Kenyan police officers.
The UN released a report on February 16 stating that its Human Rights Office had confirmed four separate allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse from the previous year involving members of the international force.
Kenya’s Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi responded this week in correspondence to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, stating that Kenya’s own inquiry board had examined the accusations and determined them to be “found to be unsubstantiated.”
“Investigations conducted were impartial and shared with all relevant stakeholders, including U.N. human rights offices,” Mudavadi stated in his letter.
UN representatives in Kenya have not yet responded to requests for comment regarding the dispute.
The international force, numbering approximately 1,000 personnel with Kenya providing the majority, began operations in June 2024 to fight gang organizations that have taken control of most of Haiti’s capital city.
This controversy echoes past problems with the previous UN peacekeeping mission called MINUSTAH, which operated in Haiti from 2004 through 2017. That mission faced numerous accusations of sexual abuse and exploitation, including cases involving children, though only a small number of peacekeepers faced prosecution in their home nations.
