Can a Transitional Council End the Violence in Haiti?

Gang violence is rampant in Haiti; more than 1,500 people have been killed this year. There could now be a transitional council to lead the country until the first elections since 2016. But the plan has powerful opponents.

Jimmy Cherizier, alias “Barbecue”, once again gave an interview – this time to a Sky News reporter who was allowed to look around the district controlled by Cherizier. The gang leader once again presents himself as the voice of the people, against the corrupt elites who are to blame for the misery and violence.

Gang violence has been rampant in the country for months. According to a report by the UN Human Rights Office last Thursday, more than 1,500 people have been killed this year and more than 50,000 people have fled Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince in the last few weeks.

It’s not his fault, claims Cherizier: “We are for dialogue, it is the political class that is against it. We are open to solutions as long as Haitians are at the table. We will lay down our weapons as soon as that is necessary. But there “We are not there yet. Because as long as we have no representation in the Transitional Council, Haiti will not find peace.”

Plan negotiated by Haiti and the UN

The United Nations has negotiated a roadmap with Haiti’s politicians, which now needs to be implemented. Under a presidential transition council, the security situation should be improved to such an extent that people can move freely again, the devastating food situation will ease, schools will reopen and the country can finally elect a new government in free elections.

The Kenya-led police mission is intended to support the Haitian police forces, which are now inferior to the gangs. In addition, sanctions against people, companies or organizations that threaten the peace, security or stability of Haiti, as well as an arms embargo, have already been decided in 2022.

“Arms embargo must be implemented”

William O’Neill, commissioner of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, again urged implementation of the measures last week: “It is incredible to me that weapons are still being supplied to the gangs, mainly from the United States,” said O’Neill.

The arms embargo must be enforced much more vigorously by everyone. Without weapons and ammunition, the gangs would also lose their power, says O’Neill. “The sanctions and the arms embargo as well as the formation of the Transitional Council are absolutely crucial. Then perhaps we can change the momentum here.”

Warning to UNSecurity mission

According to O’Neill, the UN security mission, originally planned with around 1,000 police officers, has to be increased to around 5,000 men due to the strength of Cherizier’s gang coalition. O’Neill blames the gangs for the many deaths and refugees in recent weeks.

In Kenya, which is supposed to provide the police officers, the original number was highly controversial domestically. Cherizier certainly had this in mind when he gave the following warning to the Sky News reporter: “When the Kenyans come, the first thing they will do is carry out massacres in the slums. Because the oligarchs and the corrupt politicians will tell them: that they have to go there, supposedly to eliminate the gangs. But we won’t allow that.”

Little trust

There is still no consensus on the question of how Haiti could return to normality. Influential politician Guy Philippe, who led the coup against President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 2004, warned all his colleagues on Monday not to take part in the planned transition council.

In doing so, he hits the nerve of people like Claude, who have long since stopped trusting the political class in the country – and therefore not the international community either. “I want to tell politicians that the country belongs to us. Nobody will decide for us,” says Claude. “We must take our fate into our own hands.”

But before the people of Haiti can actually take their fate into their own hands, they will have to take a long time to decide – by the international community, discredited politicians and gang leaders.