Attachments
Summary
Both the political and security dynamics in Haiti shifted significantly during the reporting period of November 2023 to August 2024. Following weeks of anti-government protests across the country, and in anticipation of the long-awaited deployment of the Multinational Security Support mission, gangs from the two opposing coalitions – G9 and G-Pèp – activated the Viv Ansanm alliance in February 2024 and launched a series of coordinated attacks in Port-au-Prince.
The reporting period saw a spike in gang violence. Since late February, gangs – including those led by the five individuals currently included in the United Nations sanctions consolidated list – staged repeated assaults against government facilities and critical infrastructure, including seaports, airports and police stations, as well as banks, businesses and private property. The two largest prisons in the country were attacked in March, and more than 4,600 inmates escaped, some of whom joined the ranks of the gangs. The attacks have not only had a substantial humanitarian impact, killing many, displacing thousands and leaving parts of the population without access to basic commodities, but have also further crippled the economy and the financial sector.
This extreme violence contributed to the announcement of the resignation of the Prime Minister, Ariel Henry, on 11 March, during a meeting facilitated by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), which established a new road map for the political transition. Since then, despite challenges in building cohesion between Haitian stakeholders, several significant steps have been taken to implement transitional arrangements, including the formation of the Transitional Presidential Council, the appointment on 29 May of Garry Conille – a former Prime Minister and senior United Nations official – as the interim Prime Minister and the installation of the new Government on 12 June.
Despite those advancements, gang violence has continued to plague Haiti. Several parts of the capital remain under attack, and, at the time of writing, gangs control about 85 per cent of the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince. Gangs actively continue to undermine the political transition, including by relentlessly targeting police and judicial facilities and personnel, in particular in the West and Artibonite departments, thereby impeding the restoration of State authority and the future organization of elections. Against that backdrop, self-defence groups have proliferated, leading to a notable rise in extrajudicial killings and mob lynchings.
The establishment of the Transitional Government and the coinciding initial deployment of the Multinational Security Support mission in June, signal a potential revival of State control and a more effective and coordinated response to the violence. In reaction, although gangs have called for dialogue in the hope of securing an amnesty, they have violently demonstrated their opposition to the mission and to any threat to their hegemony. Aside from some infighting, six months on, the Viv Ansanm alliance still holds, and gangs have expanded their territories to increase revenue from kidnappings, extortion and drug trafficking. They have engaged in an active recruitment drive, in particular of children, strengthened the protection of their strongholds and stockpiled arms and ammunition.
Despite the strengthening of the arms embargo measures, arms trafficking continues unabated, as evidenced by the high levels of armed violence in the country and the new materiel displayed by gangs. Gangs have been increasingly procuring larger calibre weapons, resulting in more damage and a posing greater challenge to the police and the mission. In response to the security vacuum, more civilians have been purchasing weapons, and some private security companies, as well as units of the Brigade de surveillance des aires protégées, have continued to procure firearms illicitly, further fuelling trafficking dynamics. The Panel of Experts is looking into several regional trafficking trends, and the main routes previously reported remain the same. The effective enforcement of the arms embargo by Haiti and Member States from the wider region remains critical to achieving any decrease in armed violence in the country.
Serious violations of human rights persist on a large scale with total impunity. Gangs continue to launch indiscriminate attacks against the population, killing, raping, torturing and kidnapping civilians, notably in the West and Artibonite departments. The surge in the numbers of internally displaced persons and their dire living conditions exacerbate the risk of women and girls becoming victims of sexual assault and exploitation. The Panel is particularly concerned about children being victims of forced recruitment, sexual violence and malnutrition, as well as the deprivation of access to education and health services. At the time of writing, about 600,000 people were displaced within the country and hundreds of thousands had fled abroad, including through smuggling networks tied to regional criminal organizations. With many children and young people out of school and universities, and skilled people fleeing, the future of the country is at stake.
The recent crisis has exposed connections between the actions of the gangs and other armed actors and the actions of certain political, economic and security individuals, and the Panel is looking into the activities of several of them. In addition, weak security and governance continue to be exploited by cross-border trafficking networks, involving gang members, to smuggle large quantities of goods into the country on behalf of Haitian businesspeople who finance the gangs. This deprives the State of import taxes and facilitates the trafficking of arms and ammunition, as well as drugs, thereby fuelling armed violence.
For Haitian interlocutors, the sanctioning of these actors, who continue to back the gangs and threaten the peace and security of Haiti in total impunity, is a major priority. With the revival of the political process and the deployment of the Multinational Security Support mission, it is a crucial moment for the sanctions regime to effectively support the stabilization of Haiti.