The Tribune

By MALCOLM STRACHAN

A US court charged a Haitian gang leader last week in what seems an exercise in futility. The accused wasn’t there – and there seems no likelihood he ever will see the inside of that court.

The accusations were over a kidnapping last year of an American couple – Jean Franklin and Marie Odette Franklin. Armed gang members stormed the couple’s home, and shot Marie Odette dead in the process. Her husband was held for 21 days and released after ransom payments were made to the gang.

The gang leader, Vitel’Homme Innocent, is believed to be in Tabarre, Haiti, and he was also charged last year over the 2021 kidnappings of Christian missionaries. Again, no sign of being brought to justice for those either.

There is a $1m reward for information leading to the arrest of Innocent, whose name seems about the only way he is innocent. He runs the Kraze Barye gang that operates in Port-au-Prince. The gang has about 600 member and is known for crimes, including murder, rape, robbery, kidnapping and drug and weapons trafficking.

And yet, Kraze Barye is far from the biggest player in Haiti’s gang-riddled society.

Instead, it is allied to G-Pèp which, according to a report to the UN by an appointed Panel of Experts, is one of the dominant gangs in Haiti, in conflict with the rival G9 alliance.

The UN team reported that the G-Pèp coalition has been growing – with kidnapping for ransom a prominent tool to bring in money, money then used to buy more guns, more drugs, and to reinforce the gang’s position, with a gang leader of the 5 Segond part of the coalition, Johnson André, nicknamed Izo, playing an increasingly influential role.

Meanwhile, G9 leader Jimmy Chérizier, nicknamed Barbeque, continues to lead major offensives against a number of neighbourhoods under the control of rival gangs, leading to many killings, rapes and people being displaced.

This is the landscape that a proposed multi-national force – including Bahamians – will have to operate in.

Where is the Haitian police in all this? Well, the simple answer is outgunned. The UN team reports that the gangs are developing ever more sophisticated arsenals, with their firepower already greater than that of the police.

The arms embargo against Haiti is described as ineffectual, and police continue to be targeted by gangs – along with the regular population – in what the UN team describes as “appalling crimes”.

Violations against human rights are described as “unprecedented”, with rape being a common occurrence, and even being used as a weapon in itself.

There are no elected representatives, and no sign of elections any time soon. The last senators had their terms expire in January, and there have been no presidential, legislative or municipal elections since 2016. Last year, an accord aimed for national election this year and the formation of a new government by February next year – but this year is running out.

On Friday, a retired Colombian army officer was sentenced to life in prison in Florida for his role in the assassination of Haiti President Jovenel Moise in 2021. German Alejandro Rivera Garcia, 45, known as “Colonel Mike”, pleaded guilty in September to his part in the plot. He was reportedly part of a convoy headed to Moise’s residence the day of the killing, with court documents saying he relayed information that the plan was not to kidnap the president but to kill him.

His is the second sentencing, after Haitian-Chilean businessman Rodolphe Jar was also sentenced to life, while former Haitian senator John Joel Joseph is due to be sentenced in December.

According to the charges, those three conspired with others, including about 20 Colombian citizens and several dual Haitian-American citizens, in the plot.

The courts are making no progress, with the UN team describing a “near absence of convictions over the past three years”.

One outcome of this is mob justice – the Bwa Kale movement has spread throughout the country, with “several hundred atrocious executions” of alleged gang members. This includes dragging people accused of being in a gang into the street and setting fire to them.

The expert panel notes that “the wave of executions has also ensnared people not involved with gangs”. In other words, more innocents are caught up in revenge violence.

Other members of the Bwa Kale movement have started to organise self-defence groups – some charging a monthly fee to secure residences, while others barricade the entrance to communities to stop gangs from gaining access, and closing the road at night. To me, this seems not far removed from just another set of gangs.

Meanwhile, despite the embargoes placed on Haiti, drug smugglers are taking advantage of the lack of border controls, and the demand for guns increasing trafficking in the Dominican Republic and Jamaica, spreading the crime and disorder within Haiti’s borders wider in the region.

The police force is said to be one of the last remaining institutions that is operational in the country, though the panel of experts said the force has “limited budget, is grossly understaffed, is ill-equipped and ill-trained to tackle the complexity of the situation”.

It is estimated that the number of officers available on 12-hour shift nationwide is about 4,000 – a ratio of less than one officer per 1,000 residents, the thinnest of blue lines.

Meanwhile, the economy continues to plummet, with about 59 percent of the nation said to be living in “abject poverty”.

All of this did not appear from nowhere. Former president Michel Martelly, for example, is said to have used gangs to expand his influence and to advance his political agenda. The panel of experts says this contributed to a “legacy of insecurity”. The experts say he helped to provide funds and/or guns to gangs such as Base 257, Village de Dieu, Ti Bois and Grand Ravine. He is even said to have created Base 257.

Our own nation forms part of the funding chain for Haitian gangs – with The Bahamas said to be the principal destination for cocaine, shipped in small vessels and planes, with Port-de-Paix and the island of Ile de la Tortue being key shipping stations, as well as from Miragoane, Saint-Marc and Cap-Haitien.

There is more – far more – in the panel of experts’ report. There is more on sexual abuse as a weapon. There is more on the recruitment of children as a key goal of gangs. There is more on kidnapping and extortion as primary tools of the gangs.

What there isn’t so much of is solutions. A solution seems as distant right now as the prospect of Vitel’Homme Innocent showing up in court in Florida.

As talks continue about deploying a multi-national force to Haiti to assist police, it should be clear – this is a deeply volatile situation, and nowhere can truly be said to be safe.

There are not enough funds. There are not enough police. There is no stable political structure. There is no control over the ground.

How much confidence can we have that Bahamian troops, plus Kenyan officers, are anything more than a catspaw being used by other, bigger nations? And how much difference can we make?

It is hard to see a path to a successful mission from where we are now – but Haiti dearly needs help, that much is very, very clear.