Haiti declares state of security emergency in several areas controlled by gangs

PORT-AU-PRINCE — Haiti’s transitional authorities declared Thursday a state of security emergency in several parts of the country, including several municipalities in the West and Artibonite departments, in an effort to restore order and reclaim control from gangs. The decision, taken by the Transitional Presidential Council (CPT, its French acronym) and the Conille government, follows the Haitian prime minister’s second council of ministers meeting since he assumed leadership of the transitional government on June 12.

“I ask the PNH [Haitian National Police), with the support of the Kenyan force and the Haitian army, to gradually begin the deployment and operations in the targeted areas following the established plans,” Conille said. “Our ultimate goal is to take back all areas under gang control, house by house, quarter by quarter, city by city.”

During an address to the nation on Wednesday evening, Prime Minister Conille promised the start of operations to recover territories held hostage by gangs. Conille confirmed that other security measures would be communicated gradually by the authorities to the Haitian people, from whom he requested cooperation with the police.

“I announce to you that I, with the support of the presidential council, will implement a set of concrete and decisive measures to combat insecurity and restore peace in the country,” said Conille. “These initiatives will mark a major turning point in our battle against this ordeal.”

However, Conille did not announce the date of the launch of operations nor list the municipalities affected by this decision. He said, those measures have resulted from several weeks of planning and discussions between the government and the Haitian police, supported by the Kenyan force and the country’s intelligence services.

First confrontation with armed gangs involves Kenyan police officers 

On Wednesday, a Kenyan police unit—part of the Multinational Security and Support (MSS) mission—alongside PNH officers, exchanged fire for the first time with armed civilians during a patrol around the public square of Champ-de-Mars, near the National Palace and on certain streets in downtown Port-au-Prince. This happened a day after the deployment of the second contingent of 200 Kenyan police officers, bringing their number in Haiti to 400.

According to reports from local media, the exchange of fire between the law enforcement officers and armed gangs began when the patrol headed towards Rue Pavée, not far from Village-de-Dieu controlled by the 5 Second gang. However, the advance of the Kenyan and Haitian police officers was halted when one of the patrol’s new armored vehicles recently delivered by the United States for the MSS broke down.

Meanwhile, this was the fourth appearance of Kenyan officers in the streets of the Haitian capital since the first contingent deployment  on June 25. The Haitian government has not communicated any information about the event, including the exchange of gunfires apart from the breakdown of one of the armored vehicles, as already reported the media.

Since the escalation of gang violence on February 29,  people have been experiencing a rampant deterioration of security conditions in Haiti. Haitian families live in fear and worry every day for their lives. Thousands of children no longer go to school and people can’t move freely from one department to another without facing the risk of being killed or kidnapped by gangs. 

As Prime Minister Conille said: “Life in Port-au-Prince has become a battle for survival.”

The United Nations reported that gangs have controlled more than 80% of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince. In their latest offensive against civilians, armed gangs killed around 28 people in Gressier and Carrefour, including two police inspectors. Since January, at least 23 Haitian police officers have been murdered by gangs.

Despite all, Conille remains hopeful that his government will allow a return to normalcy by reclaim power over the gangs. However, the prime minister has warned that the process of regaining control of the country by the State would not be easy or quick, comparing to the situations in El Salvador, Jamaica, and Colombia, where efforts against armed gangs took time before being successful.

Under the actual conditions, the head of the Haitian government asked journalists to avoid carrying out live or relaying reports that could provide information to bandits on the positioning of the police and the progress of operations.

Prime Minister Conille said: “It’s going to be a long road. There will be a lot of traps and ‘fake news’ on social networks to discourage us. I believe that with determination, we will succeed. Haiti will not perish or lose this battle.”

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