Rise of vigilantism in Haiti
- Saharsh Bharadwaj
- May 17, 2024
- 2 min read
Haiti, a sovereign located in the Caribbean Sea, has been plagued with the presence of armed paramilitary groups since its inception. Ever since the rule of ‘Papa Doc’ Duvalier, organizations such as the Tonton Macoute have flourished in Haiti. They were responsible for the public executions and carrying out military functions post the uprising against Duvalier. Thus, the predominance of gangs in Haiti is no surprise.
The present conflict began in 2020, with the pro-government gangs and the anti-government gangs locking heads in May. A coalition of various anti-government gangs attacked several districts of Port Au Prince(Capital of Haiti)in an attempt to expand regional territorial control. Post this incident, various assassinations of prominent gang leaders occurred in the subsequent months. This formally escalated into an all-out gang war when the G9 alliance- group of nine gangs who all aligned with the leader of prominent center-right political party PHTK as well as the President of Haiti, Jovenei Moise was announced. The G9 were responsible for various massacres and rapes in Port Au Prince. The G9 had close ties with the government at the time and therefore they avoided prosecution.
As a counter to this, a new coalition known as G-Pep was formed. This consisted of all those gangs in Port Au Prince who were against the G9. They were suspected of having close ties with the opposition leaders.
The conflict ultimately led to the assassination of President Jovenei Moise, and the G9 setting out to kill all the people involved in the assassination plot. After the assassination, the new government’s weakness was exploited by the G9. The G9 intimidated the President to abscond from a commemoration event and blockaded the largest oil terminal in Haiti to further their control on the economy. They said that the blockade would only be lifted post the resignation of the President. Finally, a secret deal was struck between the two and the blockade was lifted. From April 2022, proxy battles between these two huge gangs took place on various fronts. All gangs now were either under G9 or G-Pep influence.
As a counter to this gang violence, a prominent movement known as Bwa Kale arose. Bwa Kale is an anti-gang vigilante movement that gained traction in late 2022. It consists of large groups of civilians armed with makeshift weapons whose primary aim is to kill gang members and burn their bodies. They wish to restore peace to Haiti, primarily Port Au Prince, where the battle between G9 and G-Pep still goes on to this date. Many members of the Bwa Kale movement have also commanded militias without police authorization. Thus Bwa Kale moved from a movement for ensuring justice to one that has caused irrevocable damage to the country.
Therefore, the tensions between these three parties has deteriorated Haiti from its path of peace and development and further time spent without intervention will only further it down the road of discord and chaos.
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