The AHRC funded film It Stays With You: Use of Force by UN Peacekeepers in Haiti examines the impact of raids by UN peacekeeping troops in Cité Soleil, Haiti, in 2005 and 2006, in which scores of people were killed, including children, and many more injured. The film uses an innovative interdisciplinary lens, combining doctrinal legal analysis with documentary film studies. It was produced using participatory practices: those who gave testimonies were consulted closely throughout the research, production and post-production stages, including giving their assent to the film before it was screened publicly. The film also contains interviews with two former UN Special Rapporteurs on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions, a former Organization of American States Ambassador to Haiti, a Staff Attorney at the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, two professors at the State University of Haiti, and two international eyewitnesses. The participants in the film state that the UN is treating them ‘as though they are worthless’ since it has not conducted an investigation into what happened and no-one from the UN or any other official body has visited the neighbourhood to talk to them. Haitian novelist Edwidge Danticat referenced the film and our website in her article in The New Yorker and also sent us a message saying ‘When I saw the people say that no one had come to speak to them before, it reminded me so much of my own family members experiences in Bel Air. Thank you so much for helping these folks tell their stories.’

The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with producer Siobhán Wills (Professor of Law, Transitional Justice Institute, University of Ulster).