International Involvement in Restructuring and Creating Security Forces: The Case of Haiti

Abstract

This article analyzes the abolition of the Armed Forces of Haiti (FAd'H) and the creation of a new police force after the intervention in Haiti by the international community in 1994. It establishes the Haitian perspective on the consequences of restructing of the security forces, and it argues that the dissolution of the FAd'H was the only factor, which was seen as an unmitigated success by Haitians. The article concludes that ignoring the problems of reintegration of the demobilized soldiers exacerbated insecurity, that the interim police was a failure, and the manner in which the new police was created led to a situation where the police force was distrusted by all layers of society, and became a part of the problem it was there to rectify.