(Port-au-Prince) Shots ring out in the distance. On the horizon, huge clouds of smoke lick the hills south of Port-au-Prince. The Grand Ravine gang, one of the opponents of the G9 gang, has just launched an attack on the Carrefour-Feuilles district, less than 3 km away.
Published yesterday at 5:00 am.
Théophile Simon Special collaboration
The attack ultimately left at least 20 dead, 40 injured and caused around 10,000 people to flee. According to the United Nations, armed groups have claimed at least 2,400 victims since the beginning of the year. That is twice as many as the number of Ukrainian civilian casualties recorded by the UN during the same period.
PHOTO RALPH TEDY EROL, Portal ARCHIVE
On August 15, police officers take position as they try to protect civilians fleeing the Carrefour-Feuilles neighborhood, which has been turned into a battlefield by gangs.
Gangs fight among themselves for control of neighborhoods. My goal is to bring them together to turn them against the real person responsible for this situation: the government.
Jimmy Chérizier, leader of the G9 gang
Impressive alliance
To prove his words, the man sets off for the southern border of his territory. As we approach a stream whose banks are made up of piles of rubbish, the atmosphere becomes tense. This is where the kingdom of Sanon Kempès begins, the leader of the “Gpep” gang, who was sentenced to life imprisonment before escaping in 2021.
PHOTO THÉOPHILE SIMON, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
On August 15, clouds of smoke rise from Carrefour-Feuilles, where fighting broke out between armed gangs.
Jimmy Chérizier pauses and sends a delegation to a group of young people sitting 100 meters away. After a moment’s reflection, Sanon Kempès appears at the bend in a dark alley. Wearing an old, stained tank top, dirty sandals, bloodshot eyes and gold teeth, he shakes Jimmy Chérizier’s hand. For almost two months, the two men buried the hatchet. “We realized that our disunity is good for the state. We join forces to deal the final blow to the system. We must put an end to this collection of corrupt politicians who control the country,” says Sanon Kempès before disappearing.
PHOTO THÉOPHILE SIMON, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
A gang member in the Carrefour-Feuilles neighborhood of Port-au-Prince
The alliance between the two criminals against the state threatens to further exacerbate the Haitian chaos. Although the existence of gangs is not a new phenomenon, their leaders have until now been subordinate to the Haitian political-economic elite. Jimmy Chérizier himself would have maintained close relationships with Jovenel Moïse.
Our leaders have used armed groups to win elections or make their businesses profitable for decades. However, the gangs now have enough weapons and money to become independent. The creature has escaped from its master.
Frantz Duval, editor-in-chief of Nouvelliste, the largest Haitian daily newspaper
An analysis shared right up to the top of the state. Ariel Henry, interim prime minister, called for a multinational force to intervene in late 2022 to restore order. His request is likely to be examined by the UN Security Council soon. From the devastated streets of Saint-Martin, Jimmy Chérizier warns of such a scenario. “If foreigners come here to maintain this corrupt system, we will eliminate them one by one. “We have a lot of ammunition and even more willpower,” he threatens angrily.
PHOTO THÉOPHILE SIMON, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
The district of Solino, in flames and blood, after the attack of the Gpep gang on August 17th
Three days later, Sanon Kempès, his new ally, will send his troops against the neighboring state-controlled district of Solino. Two police officers were seriously injured there. Port-au-Prince hasn’t finished burning yet.
The difficult equation of a multinational force
PHOTO HECTOR RETAMAL, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE ARCHIVE
A United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) peacekeeper in Port-au-Prince in 2017
Should the international community send a military force to Haiti to drive out the gangs? The issue still divides Haitians. Firstly, because previous landings by foreign soldiers have left bitter memories. In 1994, an intervention failed to get the country back on track. The UN mission from 2004 to 2017 ended with the introduction of cholera and allegations of rape against peacekeepers. After the terrible earthquake of 2010, there was a gigantic wave of generosity in Haiti. But the reconstruction effort ended in resounding failure.
Then comes the operational challenge. “The gangs are intertwined with the slum population, we will not be able to eliminate them without causing terrible collateral damage,” warns Colonel Himmler Rébu, former head of the Haitian special forces.
Unlike Jimmy Chérizier, he doubts that the gangs will defend themselves. “The gangs consist of boys in distress and without ideology. They will disappear as soon as the multinational force lands. The real risk is that this intervention will restore a facade of calm and legitimize the unelected power of Ariel Henry, who will exploit it to organize rigged elections in the process. »
In his opinion, the UN must first impose thorough sanctions on members of the Haitian elite who allow gangs to launder their money and import weapons. “It is enough to detach a dozen Haitian oligarchs to suffocate the gangs,” the soldier would like to believe.