Gangs continue to gain ground in Haiti against the forces of order, making imperative a muscular intervention by the international community, according to an analyst from the International Crisis Group (ICG).
“There is no longer any security strategy that is worthwhile without reinforced assistance from outside” the country, said Diego Da Rin in an interview on Tuesday, who is closely following the evolution of the situation.
The National Police, which is trying to stem the spread of gangs, has already lost thousands of officers to an attrition problem that is likely to get worse.
“There are more and more police officers who leave thinking that they don’t have the numbers or the weapons to confront the gangs,” notes Mr. Da Rin, who is alarmed to see that criminal groups are now vying for control of previously spared neighborhoods of the capital Port-au-Prince, and are extending their influence into rural areas.
The population often finds itself caught in a vice in territorial clashes between gangs linked to the G9, headed by an ex-policeman, Jimmy “Barbecue” Chérizier, and those united under the banner of the G-Pèp.
Several other gangs are also trying to make their way, adding to the insecurity, notes Mr. Da Rin.
Civilians targeted
A spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Marta Hurtado, sounded the alarm on Tuesday regarding the situation in Haiti by revealing that approximately 530 people had been killed and 300 others injured from the beginning of January to mid-March.
“We ask the international community to urgently consider the deployment of a specialized support force” with a “comprehensive and precise” action plan, she declared.
Mme Hurtado told Agence France-Presse that many of the victims recorded were killed or injured by “snipers who allegedly fired randomly at people in their homes or on the street”.
Mr. Da Rin said that these shootings are mainly observed in areas where the “front lines” between gangs are well established, in particular in Cité-Soleil, the largest slum in the capital.
PHOTO RALPH TEDY EROL, REUTERS ARCHIVES
A child runs for shelter after leaving school in Port-au-Prince in early March.
Snipers are used, he said, to target civilians in order to convince the population that the local gang cannot protect them and pressure them to leave the targeted territory.
Having people on your territory assures you that you have power over something. Without people, there is no more power.
Diego Da Rin, analyst for the International Crisis Group
The violence reached such an intensity in Cité-Soleil earlier this month that Doctors Without Borders (MSF) decided to temporarily close its hospital in the area.
The organization’s deputy head of mission in the country, Quitterie Deschard, said on Tuesday that heavy fighting between the G9 and the G-Pèp had taken place in the immediate vicinity of the establishment and that bullets had fallen several times to the inside.
“It was no longer possible to ensure the safety of patients and our staff,” she explained.
Similar violence occurred during the same period in downtown Port-au-Prince near an MSF emergency center which received up to ten times more gunshot wounds than usual.
Haitian colleagues from Mme Deschard, who had already left their home to find refuge in a safer neighborhood, are now overtaken by the fighting in the city, testifying to the widening of the gangs’ area of influence.
PHOTO RALPH TEDY EROL, REUTERS ARCHIVES
Young people seek shelter during a clash between gangs and local police in the Haitian capital in early March.
Their members also often use sexual violence “as a weapon to terrorize, subjugate and punish” the population, warned the United Nations on Tuesday, which has also recorded nearly 300 kidnappings since the beginning of the year.
The ransoms obtained through this scheme have become more critical for several gangs after the imposition of sanctions targeting members of the Haitian economic and political elite accused of supporting their activities.
Canadian involvement
The actions of the Canadian government, which has targeted fifteen people for their alleged links with gangs, are “significant” and are likely to have a significant effect in the longer term, notes Mr. Da Rin.
However, they do not solve the problem of gangs immediately, notes the analyst, who wonders about Canada’s intentions regarding a possible foreign intervention in Haiti.
The Liberal government of Canada is under pressure from American authorities, who would like to see the country take the lead in such an initiative, but the Canadian Armed Forces are skeptical.
In an interview with Reuters, Chief of Staff Wayne Eure recently indicated that Canada’s commitments to Ukraine and NATO are already straining available resources.
The Federal Foreign Office did not respond specifically on Tuesday to questions from The Press regarding the projected mission, limiting itself to saying that the government would continue “to seek ways to support the Haitian people” in concert with its partners in the region.
Mr. Da Rin noted that the government of Prime Minister Ariel Henry is calling for such a mission while important actors in the political opposition and civil society continue to oppose it.
The process launched at the beginning of the year under a transition agreement to allow the holding of new elections in 2023 and to get the country out of the political impasse sparked by the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse is experiencing setbacks and could come to a halt. , prolonging a period of instability playing into the hands of criminal groups, underlines the ICG analyst.
“Gangs don’t waste time. While the political crisis continues, they continue to advance,” he warns.