The U.N. Peacekeeping Mission in Haiti

The Mission des Nations Unies pour la stabilisation en Haïti -- or MINUSTAH -- was born from the chaos that arose in Haiti after President Jean-Bertrand Aristide claimed victory in the 2000 elections with about 10 percent voter turnout. Aristide fled the country before the end of that term due to a coup that saw violence wracking the nation -- and inching ever closer to the capital Port-au-Prince -- for about three weeks. The interim president called on the United Nations to help regain the peace, and the same day the Security Council passed a resolution authorizing a peacekeeping mission and "[t]aking note of the resignation of Jean-Bertrand Aristide as President of Haiti and the swearing-in of President Boniface Alexandre as the acting President of Haiti in accordance with the Constitution of Haiti."

On June 1, 2004, the peacekeeping mission was passed to MINUSTAH. Brazil led the peacekeeping force, which began with a force about 7,000 strong. As of Nov. 30, 2009, MINUSTAH had 9,065 total uniformed personnel (7,031 troops and 2,034 police) with military personnel contributed by Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Ecuador, France, Guatemala, Jordan, Nepal, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka, the United States and Uruguay.

The MINUSTAH operation has not been without substantial controversy. In 20004, human-rights groups accused the peacekeeping force and Haitian police of committing atrocities against the civilian population. Amnesty International said that the police were implicated in arbitrary arrests, summary executions and beatings, and said that reports of gang rapes by armed individuals had also been received. The MINUSTAH commander stepped down in 2005, only to see his successor, Brazilian Urano Teixeira da Matta Bacellar, found dead from a gunshot to the head in an apparent suicide in early 2006.

The mandate of MINUSTAH has been extended several times, with a current expiration date of October 2010. It is expected to be renewed again, particular with the additional challenges faced by Haiti after a devastating magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck near the capital on Jan. 12, 2010. The U.N. headquarters in Port-au-Prince collapsed in the quake, killing many staffers including the head of the mission there, Tunisian diplomat Hédi Annabi. On Jan. 19, the Security Council authorized 3,500 more peacekeepers for Haiti.