HAITI | Amidst Continued Gang violence, CARICOM EPG Hopes for Thaw in Haiti's Political Stalemate

CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana - Nov. 21 -  As Haiti continues to hurt and the cycle of depredations and violence of the armed gangs continues, expanding to new areas by adding to the already high number of victims, the CARICOM Eminent Persons Group (EPG) seems to be in a quandary.

Having carried out their third visit to Haiti on 8-14 November 2023, they were initially buoyed by the prospects that a tentative agreement had been reached on some critical areas of convergence, following concessions made by Prime Minister Henry during informal discussions, led by a facilitator, which had taken place during their absence.

The political actors, fully aware of this dire reality, continue their zero-sum approach to the efforts to reach an agreement that would bring an end to the protracted political deadlock, opening the way to address the other facets of the crisis.

The EPG sought to build on these points of agreement with regard to transitional governance arrangements for, free and fair elections. 

These points included the widening and strengthening of the attributes of the High Transition Council to bring about a better balance of executive power, the composition of the Provisional Electoral Council, the designation of a body to oversee government action, and the establishment of an inclusive government of national unity.

It was immediately apparent in the course of the EPG’s discussions that the earlier intransigent position of some sections of the opposition group insisting on the resignation of the Prime Minister as a pre-condition for meaningful discussions still prevailed. 

The governance concessions the Prime Minister was willing to make, were brushed aside and perceived as an effort to prolong his tenure.

Based on the encouraging responses of stakeholders to a proposal made by the EPG in the course of the engagements, the Group will provide a draft framework of accord for their consideration and discussion that takes into account the points the stakeholders have raised in the course of these engagements.

In the meantime, the residents of Port-au-Prince are yet to get over last Wednesday’s attack on the Fontaine Hospital Center and the surrounding community in the Haitian slum of Cite Soleil.

It was the latest gang attack on a vulnerable and impoverished community in the capital of Port-au-Prince, a show of defiant force and violence that continues to overwhelm a crumbling government that requested the immediate deployment of an international armed force more than a year ago and has yet to arrive.

“A big disappointment is that the state has disappeared,” Jose Ulysse, hospital director and founder, said of the government’s inability to fight gangs as he thanked police for saving people’s lives on Wednesday.

He said he hopes he can reopen the hospital soon as many are left wondering why it was attacked amid speculation it could have been gangs flexing their muscles during an ongoing turf war, signaling that no one is safe.

Residents worry the violence in Cite Soleil and elsewhere will only escalate as gangs fight to fill the vacuum that Andrice’s death left.

The assault that forced the evacuation of the hospital and left dozens of homes ablaze was blamed on the Brooklyn gang. It is led by Gabriel Jean-Pierre, nicknamed “Ti Gabriel,” leader of a powerful gang alliance known as G-Pep, one of two rival coalitions in Haiti.

Previous attacks in Cite Soleil and other areas have left hundreds of civilians dead as gangs pillage communities, raping and killing people inside their homes. More than 1,230 killings and 701 kidnappings were reported across Haiti from July 1 to Sept. 30, more than double the figure reported during the same period last year, according to the U.N.

Ulysse said gang clashes in Cite Soleil increased after the recent death of Iskar Andrice, a former math and physics teacher who became a feared gang leader.

During the recent clashes in the sprawling seaside slum that led up to Wednesday’s attack, gangs could be seen traveling by boat to surprise and kill rival gang members, Ulysse said.

“The minute a chief is dead, others will try to control the area,” he said. “It’s a matter of controlling more territory and collecting money.”

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