The devastating January 2010 Haiti earthquake destroyed MINUSTAH's headquarters in Port-au-Prince and killed its chief, Hédi Annabi of Tunisia, his deputy Luiz Carlos da Costa of Brazil, and the acting police commissioner, RCMP Supt.

[2][3][4][5] The mission subsequently concentrated on assisting the Haitian National Police in providing security, while American and Canadian military forces distributed and facilitated humanitarian aid.

[6] Due to fears of instability following the earthquake,[7] United Nations Security Council Resolution 1944 extended MINUSTAH's mandate,[8] and it was periodically renewed until 2017.

[9] Though effective in halting widespread violence, building a national police force, and stabilizing Haiti,[5][10] the mission was troubled from the start by some Haitians' objections to encroachment on their nation's sovereignty, then by the deadly introduction of cholera by Nepalese peacekeepers (ultimately killing over 9,000 Haitians), and by various allegations of human rights abuses, and sexual exploitation and abuse of Haitans (including children), by MINUSTAH personnel.

[21][22] In early 2005, MINUSTAH force commander Lieutenant-General Augusto Heleno Ribeiro Pereira testified which was never aired publicly at a congressional commission in Brazil that "we are under extreme pressure from the international community to use violence", citing Canada, France, and the United States.

[23] Having ended his tour of duty, on 1 September 2005, Heleno was replaced by General Urano Teixeira da Matta Bacellar as force commander of MINUSTAH.

On 7 January 2006, Bacellar was found dead in his hotel room;[24] the Federal District's coroner's office concluded that the death was caused by a self-inflicted 9mm gunshot wound to the palate,[25] though Dominican president Leonel Fernandez was shown to have expressed skepticism in leaked diplomatic cables.

On 17 January 2006, it was announced that Brazilian General José Elito Carvalho Siqueira would be the permanent replacement for Bacellar as the head of the United Nations' Haiti force.

[28] MINUSTAH is also a precedent as the first mission in the region to be led by the Brazilian and Chilean military, and almost entirely composed of, Latin American forces, particularly from Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador and Uruguay.

[32] On 23 February 2004, the United Nations Security Council was convened at the request of CARICOM for the first time in four years to address the deteriorating situation in Haiti.

[44] In October 2006, a heavily armed group of the Haitian National Police were able to enter Cité Soleil for the first time in three years and were able to remain one hour as armoured UN troops patrolled the area.

[52] President René Préval has expressed ambivalent feelings about the UN security presence, stating that "if the Haitian people were asked if they wanted the UN forces to leave they would say yes.

[54] In April 2008, Haiti was facing a severe food crisis as well as governmental destabilization to Parliament's failure to ratify the president's choice of a prime minister.

[57] Critics of MINUSTAH's goal of providing security said that the provision of increased police presence came with the unfortunate consequence of neglecting the vast socioeconomic problems in the area, the lack of effort in addressing infrastructure improvement, the joblessness, and the pervasive poverty.

[83] Fifteen months later, in February 2013, the UN stated that the case was "not receivable," because it involved "review of policy matters", citing the Convention on Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations.

[84] In October 2013, BAI, IJDH, and another U.S. law firm filed a lawsuit challenging UN immunity in U.S. federal court on behalf of Haitian and Haitian-American victims of the cholera epidemic.

In two separate occasions, members of the US Congress sent a letter to the US ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, urging her and the organization to ensure that the cholera initiative was fully funded and implemented quickly.

Alston also lamented that the UN's approach "upholds a double standard according to which the U.N. insists that member states respect human rights, while rejecting any such responsibility for itself.

"[93] Four months later, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued an apology for the UN's role in the cholera outbreak and stressed the organization's "moral responsibility" to fight the disease.

Because remaining funds allocated to MINUSTAH were not required to be repurposed for cholera reparations, many member states took back their contributions, and by July 2017 just $9.22 million had been raised.

[96] From the beginning, MINUSTAH was squeezed between traditional conservative sectors —which demanded more action— and the leftist parties, mainly linked to ousted President Aristide, which criticized its actions and constantly appealed for its departure.

Reports from pro-Lavalas sources, as well as journalist Kevin Pina, contend that the raid targeted civilians and was an attempt to destroy the popular support for Haiti's exiled former leader, Aristide, before scheduled upcoming elections.

[106] After inquiry into the case the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) has concluded 'acts of sexual exploitation and abuse (against children) were frequent and occurred usually at night, and at virtually every location where the contingent personnel were deployed.'

The OIOS had assisted in the pending legal proceedings initiated by the Sri Lankan Government and has said charges should include statutory rape "because it involves children under 18 years of age".

For those accused MINUSTAH personnel investigated and/or prosecuted in their home country for crimes in Haiti, the coalition demanded that the U.N. provide ongoing information on the status of those cases.

[5][11] In 2010, Gérard Jean-Gilles, a 16-year-old Haitian boy who ran miscellaneous errands for the Nepalese soldiers in Cap-Haitien, was found dead hanging inside of MINUSTAH's Formed Police Unit base.

Several days before the Jean-Gilles incident, the local press charged a Nepalese soldier of torturing a minor in a public area in Cap-Haitien.

"[116] People related to Fanmi Lavalas (Haiti's largest leftist party) have repeatedly expressed discontent with MINUSTAH and its management of political public dissent.

Fanmi Lavalas witnesses said that MINUSTAH Brazilian soldiers opened fire after attempting to arrest one of the mourners; the UN denied the shooting and reported that the victim had been killed by either a rock thrown by the crowd or a blunt instrument.

The case, brought forward by Mario Joseph from the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux (BAI) and Brian Concannon from the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti, concerns Jimmy Charles, a grassroots activist who was arrested by UN troops in 2005, and handed over to the Haitian police.