Report: Haitian Vigilante Movement Leading to a Drop in Gang Violence

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Facts

  • The Haitian human rights group CARDH released a report Sunday saying that violence committed by armed gangs in Haiti has fallen "drastically" — with at least 160 suspected criminals killed in the last month — since the emergence of a vigilante justice movement that formed during the simmering humanitarian crisis.1
  • The report added that, since the "Bwa Kale" movement began, there were "almost no" recorded kidnappings over the past month and a decline in gang-linked murders from 146 during the first three weeks of April to 43 this month. One survey found 70% of Haitians support the group.2
  • CARDH said that the city of Port-au-Prince is where most vigilante killings are taking place. Lynchings, stonings, beatings, and burnings are common forms of killings in the city in which 60% is controlled by gangs.3
  • CARDH believes Bwa Kale likely emerged in response to the cruelty inflicted on the population by gangs and the ineffectiveness of the military, police, government, and global community. Countries have hesitated to assist the unelected government of Prime Minister Ariel Henry's urging for an "urgent" international response.1
  • The government says it needs support such as armored trucks, drones, helicopters, weapons, and ammunition from the international community, and is calling for authorities and civilians to work together to fight the gangs. It also recommended a study on the psychological impacts of gang violence on future generations.3

Sources: 1Reuters, 2Head Topics, and 3The St Kitts Nevis Observer.

Narratives

  • Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by WAMC. As the UN has already called for, the international community needs to step up and provide military assistance to Haiti if it wishes to ever defeat the gangs destroying the nation. Jamaica is the only country to offer troops so far, but that will not be enough to save a country whose capital city is overwhelmingly controlled by violent armed groups. After first being skeptical of another peacekeeping mission after the US brought cholera to the island, the Haitian people's minds are changing, and the world should change its stance along with them.
  • Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by The Washington Post. Establishment international bodies, including the governments and media outlets that helped dismantle the nation in the first place, are now calling for blunt-force intervention in Haiti. What these people don't understand, or pretend to not understand, is that the Haitian people can revive their country on their own if they were only given the initial tools —for example, sanctioning the Americans and Haitians profiting from the violence — to get started. Haitian society is willing and ready to bring this era of chaos to an end, but the global community seems content to just take a back seat.

Predictions