Kidnappings have increased in Haiti, but the crisis has political as well as criminal roots. Between January and mid-October of this year, 782 kidnappings occurred, according to data from the Haiti Center for Analysis and Research on Human Rights (Cardh). For sure Haiti will exceed the total of 796 kidnappings recorded in 2020. Only in the first half of October there have been 119.
The country has not reached similar levels since 2005, when there were 760 kidnappings. Those kidnappings took place against the backdrop of violence and political turmoil following the deposition of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 2004. Aristide used gangs to exercise political control over important electoral blocs and to instill terror in his rivals. When their leader was kicked out of the country, these gangs rebelled by carrying out mass kidnappings.
As then, the current situation also has political reasons and some follow the same patterns seen after Aristide left the scene. These are some of the reasons that explain the increase in kidnappings in Haiti.
Since Aristide, politicians have formed alliances with gangs. Thanks to their control over the populous slums of Port-au-Prince, the gangs control huge blocks of votes. For many politicians, this pact with the devil can mean the difference between victory and defeat.
In order to access these areas, politicians have to pay. Sometimes they pay in cash through interlocutors, NGOs or foundations. And when it comes to the party in power, much of this money comes from the coffers of ministries. A former interior minister recently told Insight Crime that when he was in government, gangs were paid with funds intended for government whistleblowers.
At other times, politicians give gangs access to weapons, ammunition or means of transportation. The gain may include, for example, cover-ups or cover-ups on police operations against them. In return, politicians expect gangs to attack opponents, make their voters go to vote, and their opponents’ supporters neither vote nor protest.
In other words, elections are big business in Haiti, especially for the poorest communities and gangs living there. But earlier this year, when President Jovenel Moïse contested the length of his term, the elections were postponed. Moïse remained in power but the parliamentarians did not and no one replaced them. When Moïse was killed in his Port-au-Prince home in July, the elections were again postponed.
The gangs may have turned to kidnappings to fill budget gaps. They may also want to force politicians to pay them regularly, regardless of the election calendar.
The bands become independent
While it is true that gangs have long been at the service of politicians, now they are showing that they want to be increasingly architects of their destiny. In this respect, the alliance between gangs called G9 an fanmi (G9 and family) – founded according to some sources by members of the Moïse administration – is changing the cards on the table.
After Moise’s assassination, the G9 maintained its position as one of the strongest criminal forces in the country. The coalition, led by former police officer Jimmy Chérizier, aka Barbecue, brings together nine of Port-au-Prince’s most powerful gangs, some involved in kidnappings. According to the police, Barbecue himself must answer the kidnapping charge.
Gangs formerly part of the G9, including Grand Ravine and Village de Dieu, are also involved in the kidnappings. In October 2020, when he was still part of the G9, Grand Ravine participated in a high-profile kidnapping. Renel Destina, known as Ti-Lapli, the leader of the gang, announced on the radio the kidnapping of Wolf Hall, a lottery businessman.
While in the past these gangs drew inspiration (and money, see above) from politicians, now they are unleashed, free to take whatever direction they see fit to meet their economic needs.
Moise’s mandate was characterized by a certain level of “gansterization” of Haiti. The gangs have also grown in number and range of action.
From the slums around the port of the capital to Pétion-Ville and the central valley, gangs proliferate everywhere. According to the United Nations, there are more than 160 in Haiti today.
Among these is 400 Mawozo, which in Creole means 400 men with no experience. It is one of the fastest growing criminal groups and is expanding its territory from the neighborhood of Croix-des-Bouquets, on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince, to the border with the Dominican Republic. More than half of the kidnappings in 2020 are attributed to 400 Mawozo, including the kidnapping of seventeen US missionaries on October 16.
(Translation by Giusy Muzzopappa)
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