Clash between the Kenyans and the United Nations over sexual abuse cases in Haiti

The United Nations is standing by the conclusions of its reports on cases of sexual abuse and exploitation involving Kenyans in Haiti

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The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights is maintaining the conclusions of its investigative report on the four “substantiated” cases of sexual exploitation and abuse involving members of the Kenya-led Multinational Mission in Haiti.

The UN says it transmitted these cases to the mission’s commanders.
But Kenyan authorities reject the allegations.

In correspondence addressed to the UN secretary-general, Kenyan Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi says that the accusations of sexual abuse, reviewed by an internal Board of inquiry of the Kenyan mission, were deemed “unsubstantiated” and that no formal complaint had been filed by victims with Haitian authorities.

However, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said, in an email sent to AyiboPost after the Kenyan objections, that the absence of a “formal complaint […] does not affect the reliability of [its] ‘verified’ information,” which is based on multiple independent sources.

According to the spokesperson for OHCHR, the information is consistent with the institution’s methodology, which requires corroboration through multiple independent sources.

At least around ten cases of sexual abuse have been documented, according to Fritznel Pierre, a member of the steering committee of the Kenyan mission tasked with ensuring respect for human rights and informed about the matter. However, only four relatives of victims agreed to testify, Pierre added.

Independently, AyiboPost tracked down one of these survivors of sexual abuse.

The case involves a girl around ten years old in Lower Artibonite, whose relative says they have received no assistance to date from Kenyan officials.
Contacted by AyiboPost, a member of the child’s family says a Kenyan police officer raped her near “a public square,” close to a joint MMAS and Haitian National Police base in a municipality of Lower Artibonite.

No judicial authority has spoken publicly on the matter or announced an investigation.

In an exchange with AyiboPost, the commissioner of the Saint-Marc district, Venson François, said he had made certain relevant observations regarding the case around the joint MMAS and HNP base in Petite-Rivière de l’Artibonite.

“There were young girls frequenting the area around the police station, others interacting there with Kenyan police officers. At times, we intervened to discourage the minors from continuing to come,” the official continued.

François also mentioned the recurrent absence of the officer in charge of the Petite-Rivière de l’Artibonite police station, as well as instances in which he found only Kenyan police officers present there.

But the official expressed reservations about the rape allegations. “As a person in charge,” he said, “I cannot affirm that these abuses took place until I have found someone who testifies or who was nearby confirming that they happened.”

In its email, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights stressed to AyiboPost that the absence of formal complaint to national authorities is not uncommon in cases of sexual violence in Haiti.

This should be assessed in light of “the contextual barriers that may prevent victims from engaging with formal reporting mechanisms,” the UN body continued.

A senior MMAS official, rejecting the accusations and calling for evidence, said that the United Nation notified the mission of four allegations of sexual abuse in November 2025.

Three of those cases “had never been reported anywhere, neither at a police station, nor in a hospital, nor to government authorities,” the same source said.

AyiboPost learned that one of the allegations, transmitted as credible to MMAS officials by the UN human rights office, was simultaneously the subject of an internal MMAS investigation. That commission is composed of military personnel and police officers from the Bahamas, Jamaica, Guatemala, and Kenya.

In its findings, MMAS says it found no evidence regarding the allegation cited above. But OHCHR classified it as substantiated after multiple interviews.

The MMAS commission says it conducted interviews with local figures, citizens who had relayed certain allegations, and members of regional organizations.

During an interview between the mission’s commission and two leaders of a women’s organization in Lower Artibonite, one of them said they had learned of the rape allegation through a relative of the victim who came to their office, the MMAS official reported.

Contacted by AyiboPost, the head of that women’s rights organization explained: “It is a real case, but people felt compelled to suppress the matter so that it would cause no harm to the child. They did not want to publicize it to avoid creating too much attention.”

The head of the human rights organization said she had documented several other cases.

Most of the identified victims come from Petite-Rivière de l’Artibonite.

Some HNP officers acted as facilitators in these abuses, according to Fritznel Pierre, a member of the steering committee of the Kenyan mission.

“Haitian police officers acted as pimps by facilitating sexual relations between women, including minors, and Kenyans,” Pierre continued.

According to the official, some Haitian police officers identified the girls during patrols, approached them, and then brought them to Kenyan police officers.

AyiboPost contacted HNP spokesperson Garry Desrosiers regarding these allegations. He said he was following up within the institution.

The relative of the minor survivor from Lower Artibonite, who told AyiboPost they had “dropped the case,” fearing something might happen to their sister, hopes to one day say what caused her “pain.”

About eight months later, that relative told AyiboPost they had received neither compensation nor assistance, neither from the United Nations nor from the Kenyans.

For now, the minor has been moved to another location, AyiboPost learned.

By: Jérôme Wendy Norestyl