A Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) delegation visited Port-au-Prince, Haiti to participate in a Seminar dedicated to the promotion of the universality of the BWC, organized by the Haitian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in collaboration with the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs on 22-23 March, 2018. The PGA delegation was composed of Sen. Julio César Valentin and PGA’s International Law and Human Rights legal officer, Ms. Melissa Verpile.

In his opening remarks, H.E. Mr. Antonio Rodrigue, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Haiti, announced that Haiti does not have any weapons of mass destruction and has no intention of acquiring such weapons. The country participated in the negotiations that led to the establishment of the League of Nations and the United Nations and is an agent of international peace and security. Minister Rodrigue emphasized that Haiti has ratified many international instruments over the years, in the framework of disarmament efforts and the promotion of peace and security. The country is actively engaged against the proliferation of all kinds of weapons, including biological weapons, that can be easily manufactured and have serious consequences for the country, the region and the word. Preventing the illegal use of biological weapons is a priority for Haiti.

Mr. Raphael Brigandi, on behalf of the Head of Delegation of the European Union (EU) which provided support for the event, also established the universality of the Biological Weapons Convention as a priority for the European Union (EU).  The EU has financed 26 workshops on the topic, supported 16 countries with financial and technical assistance and has plans to support an additional 10 countries. The EU stands ready to support any implementation efforts in Haiti and elsewhere. Mr. Daniel Feakes, Chief of the Implementation Support Unit of the United Nations Office on Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), noted the significance of the session since Haiti is the only country in the Americas that has not yet ratified the Convention, despite having already ratified another important and related treaty, the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), and signed the BWC in 1972. The ratification of the latter by Haiti would complete the universality of the Convention in the Americas.

During the two-day seminar, there were presentations by representatives of the UNODA, the CARICOM-UNSCR 1540 Implementation Program of the Caribbean Community Secretariat, and PGA, as well as national representatives from the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Public Health and Population, the National Port Authority, the General Administration of Customs and the Tamarinier Laboratory, an agency of the Ministry of Agriculture, and the National Directorate of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DINEPA).

Since 2015, PGA has been actively working with Haitian parliamentarians and other relevant stakeholders to promote the ratification of certain international instruments, including the Biological Weapons Convention. In 2017, PGA conducted Consultations on the ratification of Conventions regarding peace and security, arms control, the rule of Law and the fight against impunity on 13-14 July and on the promotion of the BWC on 20-21 February.  Haiti signed the BWC on 10 April, 1972 but remains the only country in the Americas not to ratify it.

On 8 March 2017, the relevant section of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed PGA that the draft ratification decree of the BWC had been sent to both Chambers of Parliament, accompanied by that of the Arms Trade Treaty. Unfortunately, national priorities took precedence over the vote on the BWC ratification, during the last national assembly of 11 September 2017.

During her presentation on the role of parliament in the implementation of international legal instruments, PGA’s legal officer reminded the audience about PGA’s work in Haiti, promoting the Arms Trade Treaty, the Rome Statute to the ICC and the Biological Weapons Convention, actively mobilizing PGA’s membership in the Haitian parliament as well as other relevant actors, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Parliamentarians have an essential role in the ratification and implementation of international instruments:

• As representatives of national sovereignty, parliamentarians enjoy a special legitimacy to draft, vote and ensure the implementation of laws.

• They oversee the transparent management of governments, implement and enforce the laws and regulations essential to institutional life, and vote on the allocation of taxpayer contributions.

• They approve the ratification and implementation of international conventions, which dictate the rights and obligations of their country.

• Parliamentarians can engage in dialogue with the Executive.

• They can raise issues of importance to their constituents with the relevant government authorities, and thus ensure that priority issues remain at the forefront of government action.

• Parliamentarians can share their experience with colleagues in other countries to identify and share best practices, inter alia in the framework of parliamentary diplomacy.

Ms. Verpile also commended, on behalf of PGA, the efforts of its members in both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate to advance the ratification process of the BWC. PGA members have shown their commitment nationally and internationally. In this regard, in May 2017, at the regional workshop on the implementation of the BWC, in Santiago (Chile), the Haitian parliamentary representative, Hon. Anouce Bernard, actively participated in the discussions and reiterated his support for BWC ratification by his country. Hon. Bernard further expressed his commitment in an article published in Le Nouvelliste. A high-level parliamentary delegation from Haiti participated in PGA’s 39^th Annual Forum, in November 2017 on the prevention of violent extremism and mass atrocities, a related topic as violent extremists have expressed interest in acquiring and using biological weapons to commit massive violations of human rights.

PGA’s delegation and that of UNODA, met with the vice-president of the Senate, Hon. Pierre Francois Sildor, and the vice-president of the Chamber of Deputies and PGA member, Hon. Caleb Desrameaux, accompanied by the president of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Hon. Jean-Michel Moise and the president of the House Planification and External Cooperation Committee, Hon. Vikerson Garnier.

Vice-president Sidor welcomed both delegations to the Senate and listened to the factual presentations on the BWC as well as arguments speaking to the historic nature of Haiti’s ratification for the region.

Hon. Sildor mentioned that the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defense are very important, because once the topic is put on the agenda of pertinent commissions in the Senate [including Foreign Affairs and Defense], if there are any clarifications needed, the aforementioned ministers would have to come to parliament and provide the requested clarifications. The process is as follows: the president of the Senate will send the BWC draft ratification decree to pertinent commissions that will issue a report. Said report will be presented to the national assembly, which will then vote on the ratification.

Mr. Feakes also explained the many benefits of becoming a member of the BWC, including strengthening health systems, prevention of disease outbreak, and assistance of other States Parties to Haiti on a wide range of related topics. Haiti’s contribution as a State Party to the BWC would be a mere $50.

Following the meeting in the Senate, Mr. Joel Especa, Director of the International Organizations Section of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who accompanied both delegations, introduced the participants to the vice president of the Chamber of Deputies and reiterated the fact that the MFA has already send the draft ratification decree to pertinent parliamentary sections.

On this occasion, Sen. Valentin, in representation of PGA, used technical arguments but also historical ones. Haiti has always been at the forefront of the protection of peace, security and human rights. He spoke about the Dominican experience with the ratification of the BWC and its implementation in the domestic legal order. Sen. Valentin emphasized that Haiti has a role in bringing to completion the BWC universality process in the region and that by ratifying and implementing, the country would join other countries in the region in saying that we will not allow anyone who has used biological weapons illegally, transported, acquired, stockpiled for ill purposes, to think that our territory is a safe haven. We shall ratify the convention, and implement it to criminalize the behaviors prohibited under the BWC; to protect peace and security in the region, as well as the human rights of our constituents and the integrity of our territory.

Hon. Desrameaux repeatedly stated that he and other colleagues from PGA knew the BWC dossier quite well. The vice-president of the House emphasized that the important piece is that the draft decree of ratification is already in parliament. He pledged to do his best to sensitize colleagues and foster political will so that BWC ratification becomes a priority agenda item. Hon. Desrameaux concluded by saying that in both Chambers, MPs are conscious that the BWC is necessary for national, as well as international, security and peace.

PGA strongly hopes that the National Assembly of Haiti will ratify the Biological Weapons Convention before the end of ordinary session, scheduled on the second Monday of May, especially since there are no substantive or procedural objections to this Convention and in light of the importance of this Convention for peace and security.