[France24] More than 150 gangs are active in Haiti, where they impose their law on a powerless state. Most of them are located in the capital Port-au-Prince, which they largely control. Massacres, stray bullets, kidnappings: everyday Haitians are the first victims of their violence. FRANCE 24's Observers investigated their abuses in this special programme: "Haiti: in the grip of the gangs"."My whole life went up in smoke," said Jean Simson Desanclos, a human rights defender who lost both his daughters and his wife on August 20.
They were on their way to a university in the suburbs of Port-au-Prince when members of the 400 Mawozo attacked them. "The gang members wanted to kidnap them. They resisted, and the gang members opened fire on them," Desanclos continued.
The tragedy touched many Haitians, who shared tributes to the young women and their mother on social media. The day after they were killed, Prime Minister Ariel Henry took to Twitter to reaffirm his "determination [...] to fight this crime wave".
But reactions like Henry’s, from the highest level of government, are rare. Haitian authorities have been accused of remaining passive, even when gangs commit massacres on a large scale. From April 24 to May 6, in the Plain of the Cul-de-Sac, a suburb of Port-au-Prince, and then from July 7 to 17, in the commune of Cité-Soleil, clashes between gangs left hundreds dead. According to the Haitian National Human Rights Defense Network (RNDDH), a Haitian organisation, the authorities remained "silent" and the police adopted "a non-interventionist posture".
Related:
Haiti: 2022-11-04 Massachusetts Gov. Asks Other States to Fund Its Illegal Workers and Renters
Haiti: 2022-11-03 Intervention needed now in Haiti ‐ foreign entities must work with Haitians
Haiti: 2022-10-30 Cholera spreads rapidly in Haiti, overwhelming local hospitals
Haiti: 2022-11-04 Massachusetts Gov. Asks Other States to Fund Its Illegal Workers and Renters
Haiti: 2022-11-03 Intervention needed now in Haiti ‐ foreign entities must work with Haitians
Haiti: 2022-10-30 Cholera spreads rapidly in Haiti, overwhelming local hospitals
Related:
Port-au-Prince: 2022-11-03 Intervention needed now in Haiti ‐ foreign entities must work with Haitians
Port-au-Prince: 2022-10-05 Biden Frees Maduro's Cocaine-Trafficking ‘Narco-Nephews' in Venezuela Hostage Swap
Port-au-Prince: 2022-06-02 Terrorist attacks not surprising given Palestinian suffering, says EU envoy
Port-au-Prince: 2022-11-03 Intervention needed now in Haiti ‐ foreign entities must work with Haitians
Port-au-Prince: 2022-10-05 Biden Frees Maduro's Cocaine-Trafficking ‘Narco-Nephews' in Venezuela Hostage Swap
Port-au-Prince: 2022-06-02 Terrorist attacks not surprising given Palestinian suffering, says EU envoy