Residents in the mountainous outskirts of the capital of Haiti battled approaching gangs with machetes, bottles, and rocks on Tuesday, a day after a mob brutally burnt 13 alleged gang members to death.
Numerous men in Port-au-Canape Prince’s Vert neighborhood spent the night on roofs and guarded community gates that had been blocked by large trucks that had the words “Down with gangs” spray-painted on them because they were sick of depending on an inadequate police force.
- Advertisement -
Jeff Ezequiel, a 37-year-old mechanic, shared with the media “We are planning to fight and keep our neighborhood clean of these savages,”. “The population is tired and frustrated.”
The impromptu brigade is the most recent illustration of Haitians’ increasing efforts to combat gangs on their own. People in Port-au-Prince and the central Artibonite area, which has seen significant gang violence, have lynched a number of alleged gang members earlier this year.
Up until recently, Canape Vert and Turgeau, home to a significant hotel chain and a local university, have mostly evaded the gang-driven violence that has been wreaking havoc on the city and its environs since President Jovenel Mose was assassinated in July 2021. According to UN estimates, gangs now have 80 percent of Port-au-Prince under their control.
According to a report from the UN Security Council recently issued, “gang expansion into areas previously considered safe…has been alarming.”
According to the data, the number of recorded homicides from January to March 31 increased by more than 20% compared to the same period in 2022, while the number of reported kidnappings, which as of March 31 totaled 637, increased by 63%.
In contrast, there are 1.2 members of the Haitian National Police for every 1,000 citizens in this nation of more than 11 million people.
The United Nations report noted, “The police remain under resourced and face overwhelming odds in their struggle to keep gangs from tightening their grip on the country.”
As requested by Haiti’s prime minister in October of last year, UN Secretary-General António Guterres recommended the swift deployment of an international military force to the island nation and warned that violence in Port-au-Prince “reached levels comparable to countries in armed conflict.”
According to the UN, over 40% of the more than 130,000 Haitians who have fled their neighborhoods as gangs raid houses, rape women, and kill people in an effort to seize more land are currently residing in improvised shelters without the most basic of amenities.
However, a large number of people in Canape Vert went back to their houses on Tuesday after briefly leaving the neighborhood on Monday when the 13 alleged gang members were slain.
Samuel, a 25-year-old man who will not provide his last name for fear of being murdered, “There’s nowhere to run.” He added, “We have to stand and fight back. If there has to be a war, I will be part of it, because authorities are not taking responsibility and are letting everyone die under their eyes.”
26-year-old Sandra Jenty, who sought cover beneath her bed with her 4-year-old son on Monday night and lost control of her bladder as gunfire rang out in her neighborhood before fleeing before daybreak, was among the homeowners who were walking back to their homes during the incident.
“It felt like they were shooting inside of my house,” she remarked. “I’m not hurt by the grace of God.”
