It Stays with You: Use of Force by UN Peacekeepers in Haiti. A Commentary on the Film

In this commentary I discuss the making of the film It stays with you: use of force by UN peacekeepers in Haiti, co-produced and co-directed by Cahal McLaughlin and Siobhán Wills, which presents testimonies from survivors of heavily militarised UN law enforcement operations in Cité Soleil undertaken by the UN Stabilisation Mission in Haiti in 2005 and 2006. I argue that there is inconsistency and confusion at the heart of UN policy on the use of deadly force by peacekeepers and that this lack of clarity has resulted in deaths and injuries to people that pose no threat to UN forces or anybody else.