On March 7, 2024, the unstable capital of Haiti was placed under a state of emergency for an additional month as authorities struggled to control violent gangs demanding the prime minister step down.
The order was announced in the official gazette at the same time as the gangs, who now control a sizable portion of Port-au-Prince, increased their attacks on police officers.
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According to Lionel Lazarre, the leader of Haiti’s police union Synapoha, the Salomon police station in the Bas-Peu-de-Chose area of the city, as well as several police cars and motorcycles, were set on fire on the evening of the event.
Before the attack, which Lazarre claimed was the result of criminal preparation that began over the weekend, officers managed to flee the headquarters.
It happened after the UN Security Council convened in New York on Wednesday to talk about the “critical” situation in Haiti. Meanwhile, the US has urged incumbent Henry, who is still outside of the nation, to act to end the crisis.
Following a concerted assault by gangs that started with an attack on two prisons in Port-au-Prince, where most of the 3,800 detainees are said to have fled, the country of Haiti was thrown into disarray last week.
Attacks on law enforcement and the nation’s airport have continued. Ten police stations have been demolished, according to Synapoha, and at least 15,000 people are said to have left Port-au-Prince’s hardest-hit areas.
Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier, a powerful gang leader, has threatened civil war and widespread carnage unless Henry steps down.
In an attempt to promote calm, the capital has a curfew at night in addition to the state of emergency; nonetheless, gangs frequently have superior weapons than law enforcement.
Henry, who has been in government since President Jovenel Moise was assassinated in 2021, was scheduled to step down in February. Still, instead, he consented to a power-sharing agreement with the opposition that would last until fresh elections are held.
When the current violence broke out, Henry was in Kenya to arrange a UN-backed multinational police deployment to pacify his country. He was last verified to be in the US territory of Puerto Rico, but he has since been unable to return to Haiti.
With 1,193 gang-related deaths nationwide this year, the violence is “beyond untenable,” according to UN rights head Volker Turk.
The US said that while it was urging Henry to “expedite” a political transition and organize free elections, it was not asking him to step down, which is a major demand of Haiti’s gangs.
The poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti, had been in disarray for years before Moise’s murder added to the mayhem.
Since 2016, there have been no elections, and the president is still unfilled.
