”Due to the lack of effective measures from the government, the gangs can attack without legal consequences, and they can expand territorially", write the experts hired by the UN to evaluate the chaotic situation in the Caribbean nation.
Rapes, kidnappings, and murders – even mass murders – are among the brutal crimes that the gangs carry out to gain power. A weak transitional government and an incapable police force cannot curb the violence in the country which currently lacks a president and parliament.
Frightful challenge
The rapporteurs have reviewed the development from October last year to February this year, and they note that the supply of weapons is increasing despite the UN decision on the ban on the sale of weapons to Haiti.
”This strengthens their capacity to kill and constitutes an additional challenge for the security forces”, write the UN experts.
International police support exists, mainly with personnel from Kenya. But the MSS operation in Haiti is not formally a peacekeeping operation sanctioned by the UN, and it has been criticized for lack of effectiveness.
Murdered president
”The gangs will have the upper hand if not reinforced international support is put in place", noted the UN experts in the report published on Tuesday.
Lawlessness has essentially prevailed in large parts of Haiti since Prime Minister Ariel Henry resigned last year after violent pressure from criminal groups. The country's former president Jovenel Moise was murdered in 2021.
