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TimesLIVE
a day ago
- Politics
- TimesLIVE
Haiti's capital in the dark after residents storm hydroelectric plant
The outburst came after authorities and gangs faced off in Mirebalais earlier in the day, local media reported, with gangs capturing a security vehicle and setting it on fire. Reuters was not immediately able to verify images of the incident. This would be the second time residents forcibly shuttered the hydroelectric plant in recent months. In May interim Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime promised swift action to ensure a similar incident would not happen again. Haitians are growing increasingly frustrated with the government as the transition council fails to deliver on promises to stabilise the nation, which has been without a president since Jovenel Moise was assassinated in 2021. A Kenya-led, UN-backed security mission to the nation has also failed to make headway in tackling the crisis. World leaders have increasingly called for the mission to become a formal UN peacekeeping mission, while the US and Colombia have floated deploying troops through the Organization of American States.
Straits Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Haiti's capital in the dark after residents storm hydroelectric plant
PORT-AU-PRINCE - Haiti's capital of Port-au-Prince was in the dark on Wednesday after residents of a nearby town stormed a dam and brought it offline in protest at government inaction over gang violence. Gangs have tightened their grip on Haiti, with a record 1.3 million people displaced in the past six months, according to U.N. estimates. Local media reported that residents of the central town of Mirebalais, to the north of Port-au-Prince, marched on Tuesday afternoon into the hydroelectric plant which powers much of the region and brought it offline. Videos and photos circulating on social media, which Reuters was unable to immediately verify, showed them entering the building. They also reportedly toppled an electric transmission tower. Haiti's transitional government did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The outburst came after authorities and gangs faced off in Mirebalais earlier in the day, local media reported, with gangs capturing a security vehicle and setting it on fire. Reuters was not immediately able to verify images of the incident. This would be the second time residents forcibly shuttered the hydroelectric plant in recent months. In May, interim Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime promised swift action to ensure a similar incident would not happen again. Haitians are growing increasingly frustrated with the government as the transition council fails to deliver on promises to stabilize the nation, which has been without a president since Jovenel Moise was assassinated in 2021. A Kenya-led, U.N.-backed security mission to the nation has also failed to make headway in tackling the crisis. World leaders have increasingly called for the mission to become a formal U.N. peacekeeping mission, while the U.S. and Colombia have floated deploying troops through the Organization of American States. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
The Star
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Star
Haiti's capital in the dark after residents storm hydroelectric plant
PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) -Haiti's capital of Port-au-Prince was in the dark on Wednesday after residents of a nearby town stormed a dam and brought it offline in protest at government inaction over gang violence. Gangs have tightened their grip on Haiti, with a record 1.3 million people displaced in the past six months, according to U.N. estimates. Local media reported that residents of the central town of Mirebalais, to the north of Port-au-Prince, marched on Tuesday afternoon into the hydroelectric plant which powers much of the region and brought it offline. Videos and photos circulating on social media, which Reuters was unable to immediately verify, showed them entering the building. They also reportedly toppled an electric transmission tower. Haiti's transitional government did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The outburst came after authorities and gangs faced off in Mirebalais earlier in the day, local media reported, with gangs capturing a security vehicle and setting it on fire. Reuters was not immediately able to verify images of the incident. This would be the second time residents forcibly shuttered the hydroelectric plant in recent months. In May, interim Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime promised swift action to ensure a similar incident would not happen again. Haitians are growing increasingly frustrated with the government as the transition council fails to deliver on promises to stabilize the nation, which has been without a president since Jovenel Moise was assassinated in 2021. A Kenya-led, U.N.-backed security mission to the nation has also failed to make headway in tackling the crisis. World leaders have increasingly called for the mission to become a formal U.N. peacekeeping mission, while the U.S. and Colombia have floated deploying troops through the Organization of American States. (Reporting by Harold Isaac and Kylie Madry; Editing by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez)
Scoop
07-06-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Top UN Advocate Sounds Alarm Over Sexual Violence Crisis In Gang-Ravaged Haiti
4 June 2025 The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported on 21 May that widespread armed violence continues to expose Haitian children to widespread sexual abuse, exploitation and recruitment by the gangs which now control whole swathes of the country. Escalating sexual violence UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, raised the alarm on Wednesday over a surge in reports of sexual violence against women and girls since the beginning of the year – particularly rape, gang rape and sexual slavery. ' These heinous crimes are overwhelmingly concentrated in areas under gang control,' she said, warning that sexual violence is being used deliberately and systematically by gangs to assert power and punish certain communities. Survivors have reported being assaulted in their own homes or public spaces. As health centres shut down and insecurity pushes families into overcrowded shelters, access to essential services remains limited. Without accountability, perpetrators are further emboldened. ' Concrete and immediate measures are essential to enhance the protection of Haitians, prioritizing those most at risk,' said Ms. Patten. UN response The Special Representative stressed the need for full deployment of the Kenya-led Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission, which aims to reinforce Haitian national security forces but remains underfunded. She called on the international community to step up financial support. She also underscored the importance of UN Security Council sanctions aimed at weakening gang operations, particularly by disrupting the illicit arms trade that fuels their power and attacks. The recent reopening of the Court of First Instance of Port-au-Prince marks a significant step toward restoring the rule of law. It follows the establishment of two Specialized Judicial Units supported by the United Nations, one of which focuses specifically on mass crimes, including sexual violence. 'I urge the Government of Haiti to accelerate the operationalization of these Units,' said Ms. Patten. 'Ending impunity is a fundamental step in breaking the cycle of violence and restoring dignity and safety to Haiti's women and girls.'
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Organization of American States under pressure from the US to help quell gang violence in Haiti
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The Organization of American States came under pressure Thursday to help quash gang violence in Haiti as a U.N.-backed mission led by Kenyan police in the troubled Caribbean country struggles with a lack of funds and personnel. A U.S. Department of State official attending an OAS meeting on Haiti's security crisis said that the Washington-based group has a critical role to play in the nation. 'Much more can and should be done,' said Barbara Feinstein, deputy assistant secretary for Caribbean Affairs and Haiti at the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs. Feinstein echoed comments made by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio at a House Appropriations Committee hearing on Haiti. 'Why do we have an OAS, if the OAS can't put together a mission to handle the most critical region in our hemisphere?' Rubio said Wednesday as he proposed building a mission with regional partners. 'We're grateful to the Kenyans, but this is a regional problem, and it should have a regional solution.' OAS Secretary-General Luis Almagro on Thursday acknowledged that the Kenya-led mission was struggling and said that the organization was working on new initiatives. 'There is a need for a new structure for the mission,' he said. Last year, the U.S. and Haiti called for it to be replaced with a U.N. peacekeeping mission, but the U.N. Security Council hasn't supported such a change. 'A wave of indignation' Thursday's OAS meeting was held just hours after gangs launched another attack in Haiti's central Artibonite region. Gunmen stormed a church in Préval, killing 22 people, including an 86-year-old pastor who was beheaded, according to Bertide Horace, spokesperson for the Commission for Dialogue, Reconciliation and Awareness to Save the Artibonite. 'This tragedy has sparked a wave of indignation throughout the country,' she told The Associated Press, adding that the victims called for help, but that neither police nor officers with the Kenya-led mission responded. Kenya's OAS representative, Jayne Toroitich, said that while the mission has made considerable progress in Haiti despite ongoing challenges, Haitian police need more training and that the mission more money and personnel. Only 1,000 out of the 2,500 personnel envisioned by the U.N. Security are currently in Haiti. In addition, the mission is operating at only 30% of its capability in terms of equipment, the representative said. The OAS meeting was held a day after Jimmy Chérizier, a former elite police officer who became one of Haiti's most powerful gang leaders, pleaded with people from the Delmas 30 neighborhood in the capital, Port-au-Prince, to let armed men through, so that they could overthrow Haiti's prime minister and its transitional presidential council. 'I need the road to get to the prime minister's office,' he said in a video posted Wednesday on social media. Chérizier, best known as 'Barbecue,' is among the leader of a powerful gang coalition called Viv Ansanm, which last year forced former Prime Minister Ariel Henry to resign as it attacked dozens of critical state infrastructure sites and forced Haiti's main international airport to close for nearly three months. A plea for more help Gangs that control at least 85% of Port-au-Prince also have seized a significant amount of territory in Haiti's central region in recent months. 'Every day, these gangs are gaining more territory,' said Patrick Pélissier, Haiti's minister of justice and public security. More than 5,600 people were killed across Haiti last year, and more than 1,600 others from January to end of March, according to the U.N. Gang violence also has left more than 1 million people homeless in recent years. Pélissier noted that Haiti's National Police is severely understaffed — there is one officer for every 12,000 residents. He said that intelligence and counterintelligence also is greatly lacking. Jean-Michel Moïse, Haiti's defense minister, echoed those concerns. The military has about 1,000 members with limited training, he said. 'They are unable, still now, to effectively (fight) the gangs, which are very strong, very well armed, very well financed,' Moïse said. 'Haiti is on the brink of being fully controlled by criminal gangs, and we cannot allow that to happen.' He called on the OAS and the international community to help train military officers and new recruits. 'The army is very small, very embryonic,' he said, adding that the current urban warfare in Haiti is overwhelming them. 'They were not prepared for this kind of challenge.' Moïse said the government didn't expect gangs to become so powerful after President Jovenel Moïse was killed in July 2021 at his private residence. He and other Haitian officials noted that the ongoing gang violence is fueled by the smuggling of weapons, many of which come from the U.S. Moïse and Pélissier thanked the OAS and the international community for their support so far, but stressed that much more is needed. 'Haiti … needs this solidarity to be translated into concrete actions,' Pélissier said. 'The problem that we have in front of us today is huge.' ___ Evens Sanon contributed to this report from Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
