PORT-AU-PRINCE — At least 60 people were killed and another 50 have been kidnapped, including a police official and his daughter, in a resurgence of gang warfare over the past week around Haiti’s capital, according to a human rights advocate and local media.
The slew of shootings and kidnappings in various neighborhoods have forced hundreds of residents to flee their homes and schools to shutter their doors.
Since February 24, 2023, armed clashes between the gang coalition “G9 an Fanmi e Alye” (G9) led by Jimmy Chérisier alias “Barbecue” and the GPèp coalition led by Chief Gabriel Jean Pierre, alias “Ti Gabriel” for questions of territories, now control well-to-do neighborhoods of Port-au-Prince which until now have been relatively spared.
According to Marie Rosy Auguste Ducéna, Program Manager at the National Network for the Defense of Human Rights (NDDH) “[…] Today, the capital is 100% controlled by armed gangs.”
The Bel Air, Sans Fil, Solino, Delmas 24 and Nazon districts, among others, live to the rhythm of violence in a permanent state of panic against a backdrop of intense automatic weapon fire.
From February 24 to March 4, more than 60 dead (partial toll) were counted, including several innocent citizens killed by stray bullets and more than 50 kidnappings. People forced to flee urban guerrilla areas number in the thousands according to RNDDH.
According to Pierre Espérance, Executive Director of RNDDH, there is still no data on the violence recorded in the Solino neighborhood, a hitherto peaceful area that the G9 wants to conquer.
Monday, March 6, 2023, the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, in connection with the deterioration of the country’s security climate, informs that it has asked the Police to take all measures to protect the lives and property of citizens as required by law.
The Ministry asks the Police to intensify the operations it has been carrying out for several months against the bandits, kidnappers, killers who sow mourning and terror within the population.
Finally, the Ministry asks the population to cooperate without hesitation with the Police by providing them with adequate information on the bandits and by watching over each other.
SL/ HaitiLibre/Haiti Times
