After the prime minister of Haiti signed a deal in Kenya for an international security mission, gangs in Port-au-Prince broke into two major prisons, releasing thousands of prisoners.
While Prime Minister Ariel Henry of Haiti and President William Ruto of Kenya were in Nairobi, celebrating the signing of a security deal on March 1 that will bring an international deployment of law enforcement and assistance, the last form of state control disappeared. Amid an increase in gang activity, which resulted in four police officers being killed, on Sunday armed men attacked two prisons, releasing thousands of inmates back into the troubled Haitian population.
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The assault on the two prisons in Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital, seemed to be provoked by Jimmy Chérizier, also known as “Barbecue,” a former policeman who leads the most powerful gang confederation, the G9. In a video message last week, he announced an increase in attacks aimed at forcing Henry from office.
“With our guns and with the Haitian people, we will free the country,” he said, dressed in black and wearing body armor.
Observers reported seeing at least 10 bodies of prisoners around the National Penitentiary in Port-au-Prince. Out of an estimated 4,000 inmates, around 100 remained. A second jail, the Croix-des-Bouquets Civil Prison, housing some 1,400 inmates, was also overrun, but there are no details yet on this assault.
Haiti has declared a state of emergency, including a curfew between 6 p.m. and 5 a.m., as it tries to reassert some measure of control in the capital. The US Embassy in Haiti has announced it is halting all official travel to the country. It now has a minimal presence in the country, as in July last year all non-emergency staff were evacuated amid a burst of violence, kidnappings, and threats.
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While no date has been announced for their deployment, the Kenyan police, known more for a poor human rights record than any ability to tackle heavily armed gangs, will send up to 1,000 agents to establish some order on the Caribbean island, so that aid can be delivered, elections held next year, and basic security established.
The international effort, which has US and UN backing, has mustered over $120 million in aid money. However, without basic security conditions on the ground, which the Kenyans have promised to provide, nothing can be delivered nor implemented.
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The Kenyans face a monumental challenge. Haitian gangs now control much of the country, spreading out from their strongholds in Port-au-Prince. The Haitian police, 9,000-strong in a population of 11 million, are outmatched in every way.
The Kenyans will be entering a failed state and one of the kidnapping capitals of the world, where the gangs in many parts of the country are the only recognizable authority. Last year estimated 3,000 people were kidnapped. In January this year, six nuns were taken from a bus in Port-au-Prince along with two companions, showing that nobody is safe.
While Haiti has seen little peace since gaining independence in 1804, the recent surge of violence and instability was caused by the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021. Colombian mercenaries responsible for the killing and several Haitians have been arrested and others charged, including the president’s wife, who was injured in the attack. However, the reason behind the killing as well as the masterminds remain unclear.
For whatever reasons, Haiti currently has no elected officials. Prime Minister Henry, who was chosen after the president’s assassination with international backing, is generally seen as lacking legitimacy.
Haiti has experienced multiple instances of foreign involvement. The country was taken over and controlled by the United States from 1915 to 1934. There was a further US intervention in 1994 following a coup. Then, from 2004 to 2017, the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) was deployed. The mission was troubled by allegations of human rights violations by the UN peacekeeping forces, who were accused of committing sexual offenses. The UN has also admitted its role in initiating a cholera epidemic that resulted in the deaths of thousands.
Upon arrival in Haiti, Kenyan police officers are likely to become targets for Haitian criminal groups, including the two most dominant rival criminal associations, the G9 led by Barbecue and the G-Pèp, which have been vying for supremacy. fighting Following the prime minister of Haiti's endorsement of an agreement in Kenya for an international security deployment, gangs in Port-au-Prince attacked the country’s two largest prisons, freeing thousands of inmates.