2 years after assassination of Haiti’s president, country continues spiraling into chaos

By Laura Gamba

BOGOTA, Colombia (AA) - Two years have passed since Haitian President Jovenel Moise was assassinated when a group of armed men entered his home near the capital, Port-au-Prince, an act of violence that exacerbated an already grim humanitarian, security, and political crisis, and one that the country is still. far from overcoming.

Several people have been arrested in connection with the crime, including 17 former Colombian soldiers presumed to have been hired as mercenaries and a dual Haitian-Chilean citizen who pleaded guilty to involvement in the murder. But time passed and there is still no clarity about the identity of the mastermind behind the murder, the financing of the plot, or the reasons behind it.

Although Haiti has struggled with centuries of misfortune, from a brutal dictatorship to devastating natural disasters, creeping corruption, and catastrophic diseases, the extent of gang violence experienced in the Caribbean nation in recent years has plunged this country into an unprecedented crisis.

“We are facing a humanitarian crisis that has not been seen in this country, because although Haiti has a tragic history, never before have gangs had so much power as they do today,” Diego Da Rin, a Haiti consultant for the International Crisis Group, told Anadolu.

-Brutal gang rule

Gangs control 80% of the capital of Port-au-Prince, which is home to some 3 million people who are exposed to the worst human rights abuses everyday. The UN has warned that Haitian women and children face the threat of rape, torture, and death amid gang violence.

According to Da Rin, sexual violence is increasingly used as a weapon to instill terror in populations and to try to discourage collaboration with gangs that control certain areas.

“We are talking about systematic collective rapes. Several gang members repeatedly rape women from the same family in front of their relatives, and there have been cases in which the victim is killed right there, in front of their family members.”

To expand control over the territory, gangs extort businessmen and prevent people from going to hospitals, as well as children from going to school, "which has created difficulties in accessing drinking water, food, medicines, and this has considerably exacerbated the humanitarian crisis," says Da Rin.

Almost half of Haiti's population, approximately 5.2 million people, require human assistance, according to Maria Isabel Salvador, the UN special envoy in Haiti.

Kidnappings have also increased, as they are one of the main sources of financing for gangs. Port-au-Prince sees more kidnappings than any other city in the world. Nearly 400 cases of kidnapping were reported in the first three months of the year, according to the French-based Center of Analysis and Research in Human Rights. And the whole system of government has also been taken over by gangs.

“The prime minister's office, the presidential palace, the parliament and the ministries are besieged by gangs,” says Da Rin. “More than a year ago, gangs took over the country's main court, and they control all the entrances and exits of the capital.”

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recently warned that violence in Haiti has “reached levels comparable to countries in armed conflict.”

-Power vacuum leads to exodus

Experts say that the crisis worsened with the assassination of President Moise.

“The security crisis did not start with the murder of Moise,” says Da Rin. “But since that power vacuum existed, gangs have resorted to increasingly violent methods to expand their territory and control the population.”

Many Haitians are leaving the country, fleeing violence and the economic, social, and political crises. The UN has warned that even the police are opting to leave. Salvador has reported that there are only 3,500 police officers on active duty at any given time in a country with a population of almost 12 million.

“A large number of police officers have abandoned their posts, while some have also tried to leave the country,” Salvador told a UN Security Council meeting in April. “The forces are ill equipped and understaffed to address violence.”

-Mob justice

Faced with a lack of political presence, residents have taken justice into their own hands. Self-defense groups have multiplied in the country since April 24, when a mob in the Haitian capital beat 13 suspected gang members to death and burned them on the street. The lynching was recorded and the video circulated on social media, fanning many acts of lynching in the capital and in other cities. Since the end of April, more than 160 people have been lynched by civilian mobs.

“It is a response from citizens who feel abandoned by state forces and who tried to organize to prevent gangs from taking over new areas that they still do not control,” says Da Rin.

The void in law enforcement compares to the political vacuum that has deepened since the beginning of the year when the terms of 10 senators who had been symbolically representing the nation expired overnight in January.

Haiti's presidency has also been vacant since Moise's death, and no date has been set for a vote to fill the office. Haitians have been waiting for Prime Minister Ariel Henry to create a promised new provisional electoral council that would organize general elections. But they doubt that elections will be held this year or even the next.

-‘Conditions are desperate’

Guterres, who visited Port-au-Prince last weekend ahead of a UN Security Council meeting, appealed for an international force on Thursday, describing the Haitian population as "trapped in a living nightmare."

He said that UN experts estimate that Haiti needs up to 2,000 additional anti-gang police officers and “that is no exaggeration.”

“I have just come back from a visit to Haiti. Conditions are desperate, but solutions are possible if we act now. We cannot forget the Haitian people,” Guterres published on Twitter. “The world must step up.”

Although the Haitian government has been asking for such a force since last October, and countries such as Jamaica, Rwanda and Kenya have said they are willing to take part in an international military deployment, no country has stepped up to lead the operation.​​​​​​​