Haiti - Persistent State Failure

Some say that Haiti is experiencing an insurgency, not a gang problem. Others say that Haiti is experiencing an uptick in gang violence and a full-blown insurgency. Haiti has been experiencing an insurgency since 2020, with two major criminal groups and their allies at odds. The G9 alliance, led by Jimmy Chérizier, an ex-police officer, and G-Pep are responsible for massacres against civilians and clashes with other gangs.

In Haiti, the state is nearly absent, impunity reigns, and nearly half the population is acutely food insecure. Killings, kidnappings, and sexual violence by criminal groups in and around Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, have increased dramatically since the start of 2023 with a weak to non-existent state response. The UN estimates that criminal groups in Haiti killed more than 2,000 people in the first half of 2023, kidnapped more than 1,000, and used sexual violence to terrorize the population.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said 15 March 2024 that the proposed transitional council in Haiti, meant to provide a political transition and bring stability to the troubled Caribbean nation, was still not set, but he expressed confidence it would be in the coming days. Speaking at a news conference in Austria, Blinken said most Haitian social and political stakeholders had named their representatives to the seven-member council but that "a couple" had not. He expressed confidence they soon would. Blinken took part early this week in an emergency meeting on Haiti in Jamaica, led by the regional trade group CARICOM. It was during that meeting that the Transitional Presidential Council, consisting of seven voting members and two nonvoting observers, was agreed to.

Associates of the Russian mercenary outfit Wagner Group planned to visit the Haiti to seek out possible government contracts that could see them fighting local gangs, according to classified US documents leaked in April 2023. In late February 2023, Wagner Group representatives had plans to “discreetly travel to Haiti to assess the potential for contracts with the Haitian government to fight against local gangs,” according to one of the documents. In Africa, the Wagner Group had deployed to the Central African Republic and Mali. Christopher Davis observed "The appearance and display of Russian flags by Haitian protestors has increased in recent months, prompting at least one news article in the Haitian publication, AyiboPost, as recently as 18 October 2022, to explore why. The brief exploration of the reasoning behind this new trend presents the conclusion that Russia represents a kind of foil for Haitians against the perceived imperialist forces of the United States and the United Nations. However, this conclusion provides little in the way of an explanation as to why Haitian protestors have this perception and what caused it to recently emerge as part of the protestors’ narrative.... large groups of protestors have taken to the streets waving Russian f lags, carrying portraits of Russian President Vladmir Putin, and even writing pleas for Russian military assistance on cardboard signs....

" Based on several positions that Moscow has taken on the ongoing turmoil in Haiti, it is apparent that Russian policymakers are not only aware of the history between the US and Haiti but are weaponizing it to their advantage. Over the last year, Russia’s official position on Haiti has been one of repeated and vocal opposition to US policy there, portraying itself as a foil against US interference in Haitian affairs. That being the case, the argument presented here is that the recent growing pro- Russian sentiment among Haitians in not merely an anti- American reaction as implied by the earlier referenced article. Rather it is something that Moscow has deliberately cultivated."

On 01 January 2024, the Republic of Haiti celebrated the 220th anniversary of declaring independence. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated "Russia strongly condemns the use of neocolonial practices that have repeatedly impacted Haiti. The relations between Russia and Haiti have always been based on friendship, solidarity, equality and consideration for each other’s interests. We share a commitment to the principles of international law, as formalised in the UN Charter, which includes respect for national sovereignty and non-interference in domestic affairs. We are ready to further deepen our political dialogue and expand our trade, economic, scientific, technological, humanitarian, cultural and other ties. Haitian students receive education at Russian universities funded by the federal budget, and we are confident that they will contribute significantly to the development of their country."

Approximately 150 criminal groups operate in the capital, Port-au-Prince, and its metropolitan region, many under two of the main criminal coalitions, the G-Pèp federation and the G9 alliance. Many of the worst abuses have taken place in Cité Soleil, a densely populated commune bordering the coast, where residents are caught in a protracted conflict between the G9 alliance led by Jimmy Chérizier, or “Barbecue,” and its rival, the G-Pèp federation led by Gabriel Jean-Pierre. G-Pèp controls an area called Brooklyn, while the G9 controls the surrounding neighborhoods and is trying to move into Brooklyn.

In early 2023 UN chief Antonio Guterres and Haiti's Prime Minister Ariel Henry repeatedly called for an international force to help quell the mounting violence, but there has been little action as no country has stepped up to lead the operation. Without a sufficient security apparatus to combat the rampant gangs, Haitians in the capital Port-au-Prince have begun taking matters into their own hands, UN Haiti envoy Maria Isabel Salvador told the Security Council on 06 July 2023. The UN office in Haiti, known as BINUH, "has documented the killing of at least 264 alleged gang members by vigilante groups," she said, noting the trend as adding "another layer of complexity" to the country's security situation.

"We are not calling for a military or political mission of the United Nations," he told reporters at UN headquarters in New York. "We are calling for a robust security force deployed by Member States to work hand-in-hand with the Haitian National Police to defeat and dismantle the gangs and restore security across the country." When asked if the force would need to be composed of around 1,000 to 2,000 people, Guterres said it would need to be "robust" with a "meaningful number of officers." "So I believe that those numbers do not reflect any exaggeration," he said.

Since the assassination of former President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021, Prime Minister Henry controlled all executive and parliamentary functions and has not reached a consensus with Haitian political actors and civil society representatives to enable a democratic transition. Nearly all Haitian civil society representatives said that the situation had deteriorated so drastically that an international response was needed, including a security component.

Since the departure of the UN peacekeeping missions (MINUSTAH in 2017, and MINUJUSTH in 2019), the Haitian police showed signs of fragility as well as their inability to curtail the territorial expansion of gang activities across the capital and other cities. Generally underresourced and unremunerated, police officers and magistrates have also been widely accused of corruption. Additionally, the participation of former/rogue officers in criminal activities seems to be more apparent. Jimmy Cherizier (aka “Barbecue”), a former police officer and leader of an alliance of gangs (known as “G9 and allies”), as well as the creation of criminal group such as Baz Pilat, reportedly composed of former police officers exemplified this situation.

Gangs have been a longstanding feature of violence in Haiti, particularly after the faltering of President Aristide’s regime in 2004. Gang violence rose again during the “Peyi lòk” popular protests between 2018 and 2020, during which gangs intimidated and targeted rival neighbourhoods, street protestors and civil society actors. A case in point were the massacres perpetrated in the areas of La Saline or Bel Air in November 2018 and November 2019, respectively.

From that point on, as part of a strategy to control the territory, gangs started to target and ransom their own communities whenever the latter were perceived to sympathize with rival gangs, causing large numbers of citizens to abandon these areas. In 2021, the metropolitan area of Port-of-Prince in particular experienced a rapid expansion of unprecedented gang-related violence. The assassination of the President Jovenel Moïse on 7 July 2021 left Haiti with very few functioning democratic institutions standing while aggravating the governance vacuum.

Armed gangs, some alleged to be supported by political and business actors, fought for control of territory throughout the metropolitan Port-au-Prince area, typically in the most disadvantaged and impoverished areas. These conflicts killed hundreds of residents. Reports emerged of serious human rights abuses, including the targeted use of gender-based violence, cannibalism and violent destruction of human remains that were publicized for maximum psychological effect, and deliberate blockage of humanitarian aid. Gang violence killed at least 1,248 persons and displaced thousands more between January and June 2022.

From April 24 to May 16 2022, the G-Pep-allied 400 Mawozo gang and the G-9-allied Chen Mechan gang fought for control of territory in the Plaine du Cul de Sac region. According to RNDDH, the conflict began when 400 Mawozo attacked Chen Mechan-held territory to broaden its revenue base. From July 7-17, the G-9-allied Belekou gang and the G-Pep-allied Brooklyn gang fought for control of the Cité Soleil neighborhood. Clashes were worst in the Brooklyn, Soleil 17, and Soleil 19 areas, the most populated portions of Cité Soleil, that were controlled by G-Pep at the fighting’s outbreak.

From April 24 to May 16, large multiday battles among rival gangs killed approximately 190 persons, including an estimated 96 gang members. Reports emerged of rapes, injuries, retaliatory killings, killings of children, and mutilation of human remains. From July 7-17, multiday battles between two other rival gangs killed between 150 and 300 persons. Reportedly, Belekou gang members distributed machetes to neighborhood residents on July 10 and encouraged them to seek revenge for family members and friends who had been killed. Human rights sources documented retaliatory killings and mutilation of human remains.

Gang members continued to experience special treatment in detention and were sometimes released without proper cause. Before Germine Joly’s extradition to the United States on May 3, civil society sources reported Joly, leader of the 400 Mawozo gang, allegedly managed 400 Mawozo operations, planned attacks and kidnappings, threw parties, and hosted Facebook Live streaming sessions from his cell at the National Penitentiary in clear violation of prison rules.

By the end of April 2023 the security and humanitarian situation in many areas of Cité Soleil had reached alarming levels. According to humanitarian workers, between 14 and 19 April 2023, clashes between rival gangs led to the death of nearly 70 people, including 18 women and at least 2 children. Another 40 people were injured. Many schools and health centres in the area had closed. The clashes also restricted access to essential goods and services. In addition to this, torrential rains in recent weeks worsened sanitary and living conditions in the neighborhood. In one area of Cité Soleil called Brooklyn, garbage carried by the rain blocked road access, including for water trucks.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on 24 April 2023 urged the immediate deployment of an international armed force in Haiti to stem escalating gang violence and the country’s worst human rights crisis in decades. Guterres reiterated in a report to the UN Security Council that deploying an international force remains “crucial” to help Haitian authorities curb the violence and rights abuses, restore the rule of law, and create conditions for the holding of national elections. “Since the beginning of 2023, 22 police officers have been killed by gangs,” Guterres said. “These trends are expected to accelerate unless efforts are redoubled to urgently equip and train police, recruit new officers and improve working conditions to retain existing personnel.”

Kenya and Haiti signed a “reciprocal” agreement 01 March 2024 to deploy police from the East African country to lead a United Nations-backed law and order mission in the gang-riven Caribbean nation, Kenyan President William Ruto has said. Ruto said on Friday that he and Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry had “discussed the next steps to enable the fast-tracking of the deployment”, but it was not immediately clear whether the agreement would counter a court ruling in January that branded the deployment “unconstitutional”.

Violence in Haiti spiralled in the days after calls by Cherizier, a former police officer known as Barbecue, for criminal groups to unite and overthrow Henry. Cherizier heads an alliance of gangs and faces sanctions from the UN and the United States. Two of the Caribbean country’s main police unions called for assistance to stop inmates, many considered to be high-profile criminals, from fleeing the National Penitentiary in Port-Au-Prince.

Haiti’s government declared a state of emergency 03 March 2024 and imposed a curfew after an explosion of gang-led violence over the weekend saw thousands of prisoners escape after assaults on the country’s two biggest prisons. The 72-hour state of emergency went into immediate effect as the government said it would set out to find the killers, kidnappers and other violent criminals it said it had escaped in the attacks.

“The police were ordered to use all legal means at their disposal to enforce the curfew and apprehend all offenders,” said a statement from Finance Minister Patrick Boisvert, who is acting as prime minister while Ariel Henry is overseas trying to salvage support for a United Nations-backed security force to stabilise the country in its conflict with increasingly powerful crime groups. Gangs led by Jimmy Cherizier are trying to force Henry from power.

As the latest crisis in the violence-wracked Caribbean nation spiraled, gunfire shut down some flights at Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Haiti's capital. With gangs launching a large scale attack on the airport, the situation in Haiti seemed to have escalated to an open insurrection. Now a broad coalition of rivaling gangs is trying to capture the airport and prevent acting president Ariel Henry from returning to Port Au Prince.

In Haiti, the number of identified gangs actively contributing to violence in 2023 nearly doubled since 2021. The prison breaks on 2 March and the escape of thousands of prisoners — including the jailed leaders of some of these gangs — raise concerns that new gangs may form or strengthen in an environment that already allows them to thrive. Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) data indicate a 60% increase in violence involving gangs in 2023 compared to 2021; in the same period, according to the best estimate of ACLED's Conflict Exposure calculator, the share of the population exposed directly to political violence rose to 66% from 57%.

Stark comments from Jimmy Cherizier, known as "Barbecue," came as Henry appeared to be struggling to fly home, with the main airport under attack and neighboring Dominican Republic refusing permission for him to land. Henry -- who was supposed to step down last month -- was out of the country last week when armed criminal gangs, who control large swathes of the country, launched a coordinated assault to oust him.

Cherizier, who leads a group of gangs known as the "G9 Family and Allies," cites as a chief inspiration Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier, who ruled Haiti with ruthless brutality in the 1960s and 70s. He said gunmen had committed harmful acts, but "I believe that society must forgive them and unite to rethink a new Haiti."

"If Ariel Henry doesn't resign, if the international community continues to support him, we'll be heading straight for a civil war that will lead to genocide," Cherizier, a former police officer who is under UN sanctions for human rights abuses, told reporters in the capital. "Either Haiti becomes a paradise or a hell for all of us. It's out of the question for a small group of rich people living in big hotels to decide the fate of people living in working-class neighborhoods," the 46-year-old added.

In power since the 2021 assassination of president Jovenel Moise, Henry was due to step down in February but instead agreed to a power-sharing deal with the opposition until new elections are held. Henry was denied entry into the neighboring Dominican Republic, according to Dominican news group CDN. A spokesperson for the governor's office in nearby Puerto Rico confirmed his plane had landed there, at least briefly. "I don't know if he's still in Puerto Rico," Sheila Anglero told AFP by telephone.

A police academy in the capital where more than 800 cadets are training came under attack by an armed gang. The attack was repelled after the arrival of reinforcements, said Lionel Lazarre of the Haitian police union.

The unrest has left 250 Cubans stranded in Port-au-Prince after their flights were canceled, according to the Havana office of Sunrise Airways. "When we were about to board the plane, they realised that the plane had a bullet hole," a 34-year-old Cuban passenger told AFP via WhatsApp, on condition of anonymity.

Haitian officials have been pleading for months for international assistance to help their overwhelmed security forces, as gangs push beyond the city and into rural areas.

Henry had traveled to Kenya to push for the deployment of a UN-backed multinational police mission to help stabilize his country when the attempt to oust him began. With him away, the gangs raided two Port-au-Prince prisons, in attacks that resulted in a dozen deaths and the escape of thousands of inmates. "They're showing us that the police don't matter," Bertony Junior Exantus, a resident of Delmas in Port-au-Prince who fled the violence, told reporters.

At least 15,000 people have recently evacuated the worst-hit parts of the capital, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Due to limited movement, UN teams on the ground have been unable to report a death toll, Dujarric told reporters in New York.

The government declared a state of emergency and nighttime curfew, while the UN Security Council has scheduled a closed-door meeting. After being brought to a virtual standstill, Port-au-Prince appeared quieter, although some streets remained barricaded by residents. Some transport resumed and shops reopened, with long queues outside of stores, banks and at petrol stations. In Washington, the State Department renewed a call for calm, though a spokesman declined to address the whereabouts of Haiti's prime minister.

Regional Caribbean bloc CARICOM warned that the spiraling crisis was "compounded by the absence of key institutions functioning, such as the presidency and the parliament." "There must be a political solution to anchor any stabilisation of security and humanitarian efforts," said Mohamed Irfaan Ali, Guyana's president and the current chairman of CARICOM.

Citing the "rapidly deteriorating security situation," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had called this week for urgent financial support for the multinational police mission. "Hundreds of thousands of children and families are displaced and cut off from lifesaving services and aid as armed groups rule the streets," Catherine Russell, head of UNICEF, said. "The world must not stand idle."

Although there is rising pressure on Henry from the United States, "we are definitely not pushing for the prime minister to resign," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters. "But we have underscored that now is the time to finalise a political accord to help set Haiti on a path to a better future." She added the United States would not assist Henry to return to his country, or discuss his travels.

Between violence, the political crisis and years of drought, some 5.5 million Haitians – about half the population – need humanitarian assistance.

After months of delays, the UN Security Council finally gave its greenlight in October for a multinational policing mission led by Kenya. But that deployment was stalled by Kenyan courts.