Article

2022-11-12 Caribbean-Latin America

[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".

Posted by Besoeker 2022-11-12 05:31|| || Front Page|| [11139 views ] Top

#1 Mogadishu of the Caribbean.

Posted by Super Hose 2022-11-12 08:20|| 2022-11-12 08:20|| Front Page Top

#2 Bet there's a wall between Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Posted by AlanC 2022-11-12 08:36|| 2022-11-12 08:36|| Front Page Top

#3 Aerial photos show trees in DR, total deforestation in Haiti.

Posted by M. Murcek 2022-11-12 08:53|| 2022-11-12 08:53|| Front Page Top

#4 ...This never would have happened if Papa Doc was still around.

Mike

Posted by Mike Kozlowski 2022-11-12 10:06|| 2022-11-12 10:06|| Front Page Top

#5 Do Bill and Hillary make money off this too?

Posted by AlanC 2022-11-12 10:47|| 2022-11-12 10:47|| Front Page Top

#6 No need they will be ~~eating~~ helping Afghan and Ukrainian kids for a while.

Posted by Super Hose 2022-11-12 11:48|| 2022-11-12 11:48|| Front Page Top

#7 ^4: Papa's Ton Ton Macoute would have straightened things out.

Posted by borgboy 2022-11-12 12:45|| 2022-11-12 12:45|| Front Page Top

09:43 Mullah Richard
09:27 Warthog
09:11 Mercutio
09:07 AlmostAnonymous5839
08:52 Matt
08:24 Matt
08:20 SteveS
07:43 Procopius2k
07:42 BrerRabbit
07:42 Procopius2k
07:39 Procopius2k
07:36 Procopius2k
07:35 Procopius2k
07:34 trailing wife
07:31 Procopius2k
07:30 NN2N1
07:22 NN2N1
07:18 trailing wife
07:14 Richard Aubrey
07:10 NN2N1
07:09 Besoeker
07:03 NN2N1
06:58 NN2N1
06:58 Besoeker