As Limitações das intervenções humanitárias da ONU

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ABSTRACT
This paper aims to conduct an assessment of MINUSTAH‟s
actions in Haiti, since its inception in 2004 until the 2010
presidential elections. MINUSTAH (United Nations Stabilization
Mission in Haiti) is a UN‟s peace enforcement operation that seeks
to restore the country's political stability and to assist the Haitian
government on creating sustainable conditions for self-governance.
The mission acquired special importance after the earthquake of
January 2010, when the weaknesses of the Haitian state became
more evident. MINUSTAH‟s mandate divides its functions into three
main areas: security, political process and human rights. The
assessment made in this work is through an analysis of the actions of
MINUSTAH in each area, highlighting its achievements and its
failures. The research starts by contextualizing the growing
importance of human rights internationally, especially after the
emergence of the UN and its mechanisms to defend those rights,
such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its peace
operations. The changes undergone by the nation-state in the recent
decades and the characteristics of the conflicts of the post-Cold War
led the UN to consider the concept of sovereignty as relative and to
authorize the use of force in its peacekeeping operations more often,
in order to avoid serious violations of human rights. Humanitarian
crises generally occur in Weak and Failed States, and this study
explains the extent to which Haiti can be considered one of those
States, and the reasons that led the country to request a UN
intervention. An analysis of MINUSTAH‟s actions since its
establishment until the end of 2010 made it clear that the Mission has
been successful in the fields of security and the political process, but
has had difficulties in translating these achievements into the field of
human rights. It was also noted that, to produce sustainable
improvements in the socioeconomic conditions of Haitians, the
Mission should focus on state-building projects and on developing
local capacity, in order to ensure permanent results.
Keywords: Haiti. Humanitarian Intervention. State Weakness.
United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti.