Gang war in Haiti: “Massacre of unprecedented cruelty”

148 people were killed in gang fighting in Haiti between late April and early May. Human rights activists speak of a “massacre of unprecedented cruelty”. Your report lists the most serious crimes.

Around a year after the assassination of President Jovenel Moise, criminal gangs continue to dominate the lives of Haitians. For example, people are put rings around their necks and then burned alive. This is reported by the Haitian National Network for the Defense of Human Rights (RNDDH) in its most recent report.

The human rights organization speaks of a “massacre of unprecedented cruelty”. Girls and women were raped before they were murdered. At least 148 people were killed between late April and early May, including seven members of the Chen Mechan gang, who were killed by their own leader.

The gangs are fighting for their supremacy in the neighborhoods and thus also for their income from protection money, which they demand from the local population, traders, transport companies, bus and taxi drivers, according to the report.

Thousands of people flee

According to the United Nations International Organization for Migration, 9,000 people have fled the current fighting between rival gangs 400 Mawozo and Chen Mechan from their neighborhoods in Croix-des-Bouquets and Tabarre y Cité Soleil in the metropolitan area of ​​the capital Port- au prince escaped.

Some of the families have now returned to their homes, the human rights network reports. However, there is no secure basis for this, because the rival gangs are still armed and fighting could break out again at any time. There are links between the gangs, rival gangs, the police and state authorities.

Gangs better equipped than police

Martial images of the massacre were posted by the gangs on social media, the report documents. And: The largest arms supplier for the gangs is therefore still the Haitian state.

About 200 gangs are active in Haiti. All routes leading out of the city are under the control of the criminal gangs, including access to important infrastructure and access to fuel, explains the head of Welthungerhilfe in Port-au-Prince, Annalisa Lombardo. “The government is silent, it’s fragmented,” she says. “There is a lack of a credible political figure who could lead the country out of the mess.”

The gangs are better equipped than the police; the security forces, on the other hand, are underpaid, says Lombardo – and that with extreme inflation. Sometimes they would only get their salaries every four months.

Haiti riddled with corruption

Corruption is a serious problem, says the head of Welthungerhilfe. Kidnappings are the order of the day. This also has consequences for the healthcare system. According to local media, two hospitals in the capital Port-au-Prince were temporarily closed a few days ago – after the kidnapping of a pediatrician.

A bus carrying Haitian, Turkish and Dominican nationals was also hijacked earlier in the week. A total of 17 people are held by the kidnappers.

Poorest country in the western hemisphere

Haiti is considered the poorest country in the western hemisphere. Around 40 percent of the population is dependent on humanitarian aid. And again and again the country suffers from the consequences of natural disasters such as earthquakes and hurricanes.

President Moise was also assassinated in July last year. Although more than 20 suspects, mostly mercenaries from Colombia, have been arrested, the background to the murder has not yet been clarified.