Port-au-Prince overwhelmed by its gangs: "I had the reflex to run under fire"
Haitians fleeing violence perpetrated by gangs in the capital Port-au-Prince, March 3, 2023. © RALPH TEDY EROL / REUTERS
Text by: RFI Follow
3 mins
In Haiti, violence is reaching levels not seen in decades.
Since Wednesday, the situation – already critical – in Port-au-Prince and its surroundings has become untenable for residents of the Haitian capital.
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For several days, Port-au-Prince has been the scene of a veritable explosion of violence.
Even neighborhoods hitherto relatively spared are now being attacked
by armed gangs
.
The assailants kill, rape and loot.
Thousands of families fled their homes.
But places to take shelter are becoming increasingly rare.
And the attackers prohibit traffic in the streets by building roadblocks.
Several concordant sources told the Haitian agency Alterpresse that an unknown number of houses would have been burned.
In 48 hours, at least 80 kidnappings have been recorded throughout the city, including in wealthy neighborhoods of Port-au-Prince and in broad daylight.
Among the victims is the inspector general of the national police of Haiti, kidnapped Friday with his daughter while accompanying him to school.
On condition of anonymity, a resident explains to RFI how normalized this type of situation is: “As
soon as it shoots, you hide and then you resume your normal life.
She herself witnessed an abduction on Friday.
“
All of a sudden there was a lot of shooting.
The bandits arrived with their car, hooded and heavily armed.
I was suddenly invaded by fear
and I had the reflex to run under the gunfire.
But I saw the abduction.
After taking refuge in a building to catch her breath, she set off again.
The gangs also attacked several police stations.
The Haitian media also denounce the total inaction of the police while thousands of residents call for help.
Under the constant fire of automatic weapons, the supply of food and drinking water becomes impossible for them.
The Haitian capital descends into chaos.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ariel Henry's government is wallowing in silence.
Police gangsters in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, March 3, 2023. © RALPH TEDY EROL / REUTERS
Arms trafficking on the rise
At the same time,
a UNODC report
published Thursday, March 2, 2023 points to the increase in arms trafficking in Haiti.
Pistols and sometimes even heavy machine guns "
are now being smuggled in
[...]
in a context of rapid and unprecedented deterioration in security
," the report points out.
Most of the weapons come from the United States and first transit through Florida where members of the Haitian diaspora "
often take care of hiding them in containers of everyday import items
".
The UN agency recalls
the catastrophic situation
in which the country is, with the number of recorded homicides rising from 1,141 in 2019 to 2,183 in 2022 and that of kidnappings from 78 to 1,359. Before the violence of recent days, the gangs already controlled more than half of the national territory, according to the study which "
deplores the effect of trafficking on the multiple Haitian crises
".
The UN organization relied in particular on the recent increase in seizures of firearms, on reports from the intelligence services and on court decisions.
Its assessment should help give "
support to the Haitian people
," said in a statement Angela Me, head of the analysis service at UNODC, an office based in Vienna, Austria.
► To read also: Press review of the Americas - in Haiti, a hospital in a rural area plagued by gangs
(
And with
AFP)
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