While the authorities were unable to curb gang networks in Haiti, residents decided to take justice into their own hands and have caused at least 264 deaths since April.
At least 264 people accused of belonging to gangs have been killed by groups of self-proclaimed vigilantes since April in Haiti, the UN representative in the country in crisis said Thursday, worrying about this new trend.
“The appearance of self-proclaimed vigilante groups adds a new level of complexity. Since April, the Binuh (United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti) has counted at least 264 suspected gang members killed by self-proclaimed vigilante groups,” said Maria Isabel Salvador before the Security Council.
The UN is looking for a country to intervene
Faced with the inability of the police to deal with the unprecedented violence of the gangs which control a majority of the territory of the capital Port-au-Prince, residents have decided to take justice into their own hands, while the international community has still not found a country to lead an intervention force requested by the UN and the Haitian government.
“The Haitian population is trapped in a waking nightmare,” said UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres earlier in the day, who visited Port-au-Prince on Saturday.
“The humanitarian situation is more than appalling. The cruel gangs have control over the population of Haiti,” he added.
And “there cannot be a lasting and inclusive political solution without a radical improvement in the security situation”, insisted the secretary general, repeating his call to send an international force to support the police and “dismantle” the gangs.
This appeal, launched for the first time in October, remained a dead letter. While a few countries have indicated that they are ready to participate, none has volunteered to lead such an operation in a country scalded by multiple foreign interventions.
Source: BFM TV
