Community Experience of Conflict in Haiti: Assessing the Emotional Legacy of Civilian Deaths as a result of Intense Use of Force by UN Peacekeepers

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Wills (Transitional Justice Institute, UU) and McLaughlin (School of Creative Arts, QUB) will collaborate on this inter-disciplinary project, which which will combine socio-legal research and participatory practice, in order analyse how the law governing UN peacekeepers' use of force is understood and applied in practice, through a case study of the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH); and to explore the impact on local communities of the use of deadly force by peacekeepers. McLaughlin is a documentary filmmaker and professor of film studies. Wills is a professor of law. This project will focus on the use of intense force by MINUSTAH; but the approach could later be applied to other missions operating in situations in which international humanitarian law (IHL, also referred to as ius in bello or law of armed conflict) is inapplicable. Analysis of the effectiveness of the resort to use of deadly force is generally presented from the point of view of the authorities responsible for maintaining law and order, or from the viewpoint of local and international elites; but unless the viewpoints of the people living in the communities where force is used, are also presented, the analysis will be distorted and hence unreliable as a predictor of stability. The project will use participatory documentary film practices (which ensure that participants are co-owners of the project and have control over the use of material in which they appear) as a means by which people that are normally marginalised from international decision-making processes that affect them, may have their voices heard and taken into account in the drafting of UN mission rules of engagement and policy guidelines. The film will enable policy makers to consider the physical, emotional and psychological (and hence political) effects of the use of deadly force on the people living in the communities in which the UN carries out its operations. Social-legal research on the limitations of a 'top-down approach' to controlling political violence suggests that policy makers often fail to take into account the effects of repressive force in creating support for 'bottom up' political movements that challenge the legitimacy of the authorities in charge. Two of the major tipping points that trigger violent mobilisation are killings of protestors and prisoner deaths. Under mission specific 'Chapter VII' rules of engagement MINUSTAH is authorised to use 'deadly force,' if lesser means are ineffective, to 'prevent or put a stop to acts of civil unrest,' defined as the 'commission, perpetration or instigation of acts of violence which affect public peace and order.' Under both international human rights law and IHL the right to use deadly force against civilians is very limited, except where there is a threat to life that cannot be prevented in another way. Between 2004-2007 scores of people were killed by the UN (initially denied but later admitted) during heavily armed raids into Cité Soleil. MINUSTAH is credited with reducing gang violence and most commentators from within the UN view the raids has having been effective in improving security: but 11 years after it was first deployed the mission remains deeply unpopular. One reason for this (among several) is the number of people not involved in criminal activity, including children, that were killed in UN raids; and MINUSTAH's response to their deaths. Since the residents of troubled communities rarely write journal articles or produce their own reports (50% of Haiti's population over the age of 15 is illiterate) their voices are usually mediated through those of their political leaders; who may also represent other interests. Participatory film-making practices allow those most directly affected by violence to tell their own stories and thus opens up direct channels of communication between the affected communities and the policy makers (many of them from outside Haiti) responsible for making decisions on the use of force