The Port-au-Prince-Rio Connection: 'Collateral Damage' by UN Troops in Haiti and Brazilian Troops in Rio

THE PURPOSE of the Impact and Engagement for Development Project is to expand the impact of the GCRF AHRC funded research on use of deadly force by the UN Stabilisation Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), to engage similarly affected communities in Brazil.

BACKGROUND
In addition to peer reviewed academic articles, the AHRC project AH/N00793X/1, produced a film using participatory practices, 'It Stays With You: Use of Force by UN Peacekeepers in Haiti' (www.itstayswithyou.com/film) which presents testimonies of survivors whose loved ones were killed or injured by MINUSTAH during heavily militarised law enforcement operations targeted at gang violence. The film has been shown internationally (see www.itstayswithyou.com for details). It was screened as a side event at the Human Rights Council session in July 2018 and has been selected for the Amnesty International Film Festival, France, 2019. On 26 June 2018, we received an email from Under Secretary-General for Peacekeeping, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, in response to nine months of emails to him and a visit by us to MINUJUSTH (the UN mission in Haiti that replaced MINUSTAH) seeking an investigation. Lacroix thanked us for drawing his attention to the issues raised in the film, assured us that the United Nations (UN) is taking the issue seriously and that he will respond with further details in due course. We believe it is important to continue to raise awareness and press for an investigation up until the UN provides a public response that addresses the concerns of those affected. Therefore, we plan to expand our impact and engagement activities internationally, focusing in particular on Brazil because militarised law enforcement operations similar to ones conducted by MINUSTAH in Haiti have recently been undertaken in Brazil's favelas and refugee camps leading to deaths and injuries - and to a perceived lack of accountability for the actions of the armed forces.

THE PORT-AU-PRINCE RIO CONNECTION
Brazil contributed the commanders and most of the troops to the UN mission in Haiti. It has been argued that MINUSTAH provided the opportunity for 'acquisition and/or improvement of skills and knowledge related to social control and pacification, which could be adapted and executed in any other (urban) context'.' http://www.opeu.org.br/2018/05/25/as-licoes-do-haiti/. The Vila Cruzeiro operation in 2010 is one example of a law enforcement operation in which dozens of bystanders were killed. The commander, General Sardenberg, served in the first Brazilian contingent and more than half of the 800 members of the Brigada de Infantaria Paraquedista were Haiti veterans (Harig, 2015.) The issue is topical due to the sharp increase in militarised law enforcement operations in 2018 following a decree by President Temer in February putting the military in charge of security operations in Rio. In June a child was killed in an army operation in the Mare favela: reportedly ambulances were initially denied access.

GCRF FoF PROJECT
We will work with our project collaborators to screen the film, discuss the issues it raises with communities affected by similar operations, and work with them and our contacts in Geneva and New York to a) seek investigations into deaths and injuries as result of such operations in both Brazil and Haiti and b) pressure the UN to promulgate standards designed to ensure that both the UN and its member states comply with human rights standards in all militarised law enforcement operations.
Using participatory practices, we will expand our website www.itstayswithyou.com with filmed testimonies from Brazil, focusing on survivors and medical professionals.
We will undertake a literature review of the links between militarised policing operations in Haiti and Brazil, and build on it to write reports on the situation and the need for these issues to be addressed at UN level. We aim to publish in the international and Brazilian press/social media and peer reviewed journals.

Our project AH/N00793X/1 and our commitment to participatory practices has enabled the voices of marginalized communities in Haiti affected by militarized policing operations to be heard at decision-making levels, including at the UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva, and the UN Department of Peacekeeping and Office of Legal Affairs in New York. Working with our project collaborators, the Brazilian Association of Judges, Prosecutors and Public Defenders and Memorial da Resistencia, this Follow-on Project will extend the impact of AH/N00793X/1 so as to enable the voices of marginalized communities in Brazil to also be heard in Geneva and New York. Our continued commitment to participatory practices is aimed at ensuring that those participating in the Follow-on project in Brazil will benefit from the processes involved, both in terms of subject agency and policy change proposals.

The Follow-on Project will facilitate strengthening of communications and the sharing of ideas and experiences between the two countries and thus open up the possibility of shared bottom-up civil society input into development policies. Our project collaborators will support the organisation of screenings of the film 'It Stays With You' in cultural centres and in favela community centres. The purpose of the screenings is to facilitate discussion and debate on the shared experiences of Haitian and Brazilian communities affected by militarised policing operations and also to discuss the differences. These discussions can then form the foundation of debates about what the discussants would like to see changed and how to build a campaign around the responsibilities of authorities during heavily militarised policing operations, highlighting the need for accountability and access to medical care.

Our project collaborators will facilitate introductions to community leaders and any favela residents who would like to meet us. We will invite survivors of Brazilian militarised policing operations to be film interviewed (using participatory practices whereby contributors retain control of their contribution) so that their stories can be communicated internationally to those with influence. As is evident from the film 'It Stays With You' the majority of the residents of Cité Soleil are children. This is likely to also be the case in Brazil's favelas. In poor, densely populated neighbourhoods life expectancy is short but often the birth rate is high. Children's faces, school uniforms, brotherly and sisterly bonds and daily activities to support each other and their parents are rarely seen or actively considered by states and international organizations when planning armed interventions for security purposes. Film can change that. It can bring the lives of children and their parents into the UN buildings; to the computer screens of human rights officers, legal officers, military personnel, diplomats, and civil servants; and into the lives of other communities through the shared experience of film screenings.

Building on our success in drawing attention to the issue within UN circles, including the Office of the High Commission for Human Rights (OHCHR), we will work with a media consultant to further disseminate the original testimonies from Haiti and the new testimonies from Brazil. We will work with our project collaborators, and supportive NGOs in Brazil and Haiti, to ensure that these issues are raised at the Human Rights Council, Human Rights Committee, relevant Special Procedures in order to push for more effective international guidelines on militarised policing by both UN and state armed forces. We will present an edited version of testimonies, including those filmed in Brazil, to the Haiti Desk Officer of the OHCHR, Maude Fournier (who has responded positively to our film) and also to the Brazil desk, for sharing throughout the UN.