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Boston Globe
10-04-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Haiti turns to weaponized drones in fight against gangs
Advertisement 'If the intention is to create the illusion that the situation is under control, this is quite the opposite,' said Romain Le Cour Grandmaison, a Haiti analyst at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime. 'This is a very, very dangerous escalation.' A humanitarian worker in Port-au-Prince said aid groups are figuring out how to adapt. 'We work in places where thousands of people are present,' said the aid worker, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. 'This situation is clearly dangerous for civilians, especially if something were to detonate during a distribution.' Since drones were first deployed in early March, they have not killed any gang leaders. But they have injured at least nine civilians, including women and children, according to a health care worker who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals by Haitian officials. Two had such severe burns that they were transferred to specialized facilities for treatment. Advertisement Little is known about the drones. Haitians say they see them and hear the explosions. Gang leaders post videos of them in their territory and the injuries they say they have sustained from them. They appear to be commercial drones that were weaponized with improvised munitions, analysts say. It's also unclear who is in charge of the drone operations. Neither Haiti's interim government nor its police have publicly claimed responsibility for them. But a Haitian government official said the unit is run by a task force created this year by interim prime minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé and the transitional presidential council. 'They have no transparency,' said Nathalye Cotrino, a senior researcher for the Americas at Human Rights Watch, 'and we haven't seen any accountability.' The Haitian official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive security issue, defended the drone operations. Haiti, he said, is 'at war.' The drones have killed 'many' gang members, though he did not have a number, and without them, he said, the gangs would have taken over the affluent neighborhood of Pétion-Ville. The drones are being used to target gang strongholds that civilians have already fled, he added. But when asked about the civilian casualties - which have not been previously reported - he said they would not be a 'surprise.' 'Let's be honest - it's inevitable,' the official said, adding, 'To me, it's just a detail. As long as you're in a zone controlled by gangs and there are attacks, collateral damage is going to happen.' Advertisement The official said the task force responsible for the drones includes specialized police units. But Haitian National Police spokesman Lionel Lazarre said police use drones for surveillance and referred questions about weaponized drones to the government. Godfrey Otunge, the commander of a UN-backed, Kenya-led international police mission to Haiti, said that the force does not use weaponized drones and that Haiti's transitional government is in charge. Neither the secretary of state for public security nor a spokesman for Haiti's transitional presidential council responded to requests for comment. Canada and the United States, which have provided equipment for the Haitian police, said their support has not included lethal drones or logistical support or training for their use. A spokesman for Canada's Foreign Ministry said that 'to our knowledge, neither the Haitian National Police nor the Haitian military forces were involved in the new Haitian task force's drone attacks.' Analysts worry that Haiti's gangs could now be spurred to add weaponized drones to their arsenals. 'Be careful,' Jimmy 'Barbecue' Chérizier, one of Haiti's most powerful gang leaders, warned authorities in a video after a drone attack failed to kill him last month. 'The world sells everything. I can buy what you bought.'
Washington Post
10-04-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Haiti turns to weaponized drones in fight against gangs
With the capital of Haiti on the cusp of falling to gangs, authorities in the crisis-racked Caribbean nation are turning to a new weapon in their fight against the armed groups: weaponized drones. Some in Haiti hope that the unmanned aerial vehicles, which have shaped conflicts from Ukraine to Sudan, will lift the country from its worst crisis in decades. One of its leading human rights groups backs the tactic, and a song shared widely on social media praises the drones for stirring fear among gang leaders. But their emergence has also alarmed analysts, other rights groups and aid workers, who say their use in Haiti's densely populated capital, Port-au-Prince, adds fuel to a combustible conflict, endangers civilians, complicates the delivery of aid and may violate international law. 'If the intention is to create the illusion that the situation is under control, this is quite the opposite,' said Romain Le Cour Grandmaison, a Haiti analyst at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime. 'This is a very, very dangerous escalation.' A humanitarian worker in Port-au-Prince said aid groups are figuring out how to adapt. 'We work in places where thousands of people are present,' said the aid worker, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. 'This situation is clearly dangerous for civilians, especially if something were to detonate during a distribution.' Since they were first deployed in early March, the drones have not killed any gang leaders. They have injured at least nine civilians, including women and children, according to a health-care worker who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals by Haitian officials. Two had such severe burns that they were transferred to specialized facilities for treatment. Little is known about the drones. Haitians say they see them and hear the explosions. Gang leaders post videos of them in their territory and the injuries they say they have sustained from them. They appear to be commercial drones that were weaponized with improvised munitions to make them lethal, analysts say. It's also unclear who is in charge of the drone operations. Neither Haiti's interim government nor its police have publicly claimed responsibility for them. But a Haitian government official said the unit is run by a task force created this year by interim prime minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé and the transitional presidential council. 'They have no transparency,' said Nathalye Cotrino, a senior researcher for the Americas at Human Rights Watch, 'and we haven't seen any accountability.' The Haitian official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive security issue, defended the drone operations. Haiti, he said, is 'at war'; the drones have killed 'many' gang members, though he did not have a tally; and without them, he said, the gangs would have taken over the affluent neighborhood of Pétion-Ville. The drones are being used to target gang strongholds that civilians have already fled, he added. But when asked about the civilian casualties — which have not previously been reported — he said they would not be a 'surprise.' 'Let's be honest — it's inevitable,' the official said, adding, 'To me, it's just a detail. As long as you're in a zone controlled by gangs and there are attacks, collateral damage is going to happen.' The official said the task force responsible for the drones includes specialized police units. But Haitian National Police spokesman Lionel Lazarre said police use drones for surveillance and referred questions about weaponized drones to the government. Godfrey Otunge, the commander of a United Nations-backed, Kenya-led international police mission to Haiti, said that the force does not use weaponized drones and that Haiti's transitional government is in charge. Neither the secretary of state for public security nor a spokesman for Haiti's transitional presidential council responded to requests for comment. Nonlethal drones have had a presence in Haiti, with both the police and gangs using them to conduct reconnaissance and plan attacks. Johnson 'Izo' Andre, head of the 5 Segonn gang, used them to coordinate a prison break at Haiti's National Penitentiary last year. The acquisition of the drones 'has had a significant impact on the fighting capacity of gangs,' a U.N. expert panel on Haiti wrote to the president of the U.N. Security Council last year. It said that while there was no evidence of gangs weaponizing the drones, the provision of commercial drones to gangs could constitute assistance to criminal groups that would be grounds for the imposition of sanctions. The use of lethal drones by authorities, however, is new. What little is known about the drones comes from videos shared on social media by gang members. They do not appear to be military-grade with precision-guided munitions. Trevor Ball, a former explosive ordnance disposal technician for the U.S. Army, said the drone munition in one video appeared to be improvised and was designed to be lethal. A purple cylinder, with cross-hatching typical of a 3D printer, held what appeared to be plastic explosives. The drone munition, Ball said, did not appear to have detonated properly. Philip J. Alston, a law professor at New York University, said Haitian authorities have 'an absolutely impossible job,' but the use of weaponized drones in this way runs afoul of international law. Canada and the United States, which have provided equipment for the Haitian police, said their support has not included lethal drones or logistical support or training for their use. A spokesman for Canada's Foreign Ministry said that 'to our knowledge, neither the Haitian National Police nor the Haitian military forces were involved in the new Haitian task force's drone attacks.' Analysts worry Haiti's gangs could now be spurred to add weaponized drones to their arsenal. 'Be careful,' Jimmy 'BBQ' Chérizier, one of Haiti's most powerful gang leaders, warned authorities in a video after a drone attack failed to kill him last month. 'The world sells everything. I can buy what you bought.' Gangs control at least 85 percent of Port-au-Prince. At least 5,600 people were killed in gang violence in 2024, according to U.N. data, up 17 percent from 2023. Roughly 1 million people, or 10 percent of the country's population, have been displaced. The violence has worsened after warring gangs joined to form a coalition called 'Viv Ansanm,' which has launched attacks against the capital and the countryside. The gangs have filled a leadership vacuum. The presidency has been vacant since the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse and the legislature empty since the last lawmakers' terms expired in 2023. In their place is an interim council and an appointed prime minister. The police are outmatched and outnumbered by the gangs. The Kenya-led police mission has been stymied by its own lack of resources. Compounding the sense of lawlessness, the U.N. office in Haiti has also reported an increase in abuses by vigilantes and a rise in extrajudicial killings by police. 'Haiti's survival is at stake,' William O'Neill, the U.N. expert on human rights in Haiti, said last month. Amid such a desperate situation, some in Haiti support the drones. 'They make it so that for the first time,' the Haitian official said, 'the bandits are afraid of something.' Pierre Espérance, director of Haiti's National Human Rights Defense Network, backs their use. But the drone operations should not be controlled by political actors or used for political purposes, he said. 'These gangs are committing acts of terrorism,' he said. 'We welcome any action that counteracts them.' Marc-Arthur Mésidort, president of Haiti's Action Group for the Defense of Human Rights, said a better strategy would be to focus on dismantling the ties between gang leaders and the elites who back them. Markinson Dorilas, a preacher at a church in the Delmas 19 neighborhood, worries about civilian casualties. 'These drones won't solve anything,' he said. 'On the contrary, they'll only make things worse.' A Port-au-Prince resident, Jean-Marie, disagrees. One day last month, he heard six loud booms — drones targeting nearby areas. He was forced to flee his home in March after gangs set it ablaze. Jean-Marie, who asked to be identified by only his first name because of safety concerns, said he had just spent 65,000 Haitian gourdes (about $500) on school supplies for his three children. All of it was lost in the fire. Now, the sight of other children going to school brings him to tears. 'If God knew my life would turn out like this, I would have preferred to have not been born,' he said. 'The drones should have been used a long time ago.'
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Thousands march against gangs in Haiti as Vatican is notified of murder of two nuns
Thousands of Haitians marched through the streets of the country's volatile capital on Wednesday, defying tear gas and gangs as they vented their anger against the surge in gang violence and demanded the resignation of the country's transitional authorities and the head of the Haiti National Police. During the massive protest, demonstrators brandished machetes and firearms. Others waved tree branches and red and black flags, once the symbol of the Duvalier dictatorship, but which has since become associated with other forces in Haiti. Protesters burned tires and blocked roads as they traveled down from Pétion-Ville and up from Delmas to converge on the offices of Haiti's Transitional Presidential Council and prime minister. Along the road, new graffiiti emerged in red: 'Aba Primature,' 'Aba CPT' — Down with the prime minister's office and Down with the Transitional Presidential Council. Threatening to attack both the offices of the Council and Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, the crowd at one point ripped up an aluminum billboard sign, threw it on the ground and beat it with hammers. As they got closer to the offices, however, they were met by riot police who fired tear gas and, according to journalists on the scene, live rounds. While some protesters fled, others began throwing rocks. A Haitian police spokesman did not respond to a request from the Miami Herald about the use of live ammunition to disperse protest crowds. The protest was organized by a police officer who is assigned to the specialized unit inside the presidential palace, and heads a so-called citizens self-defense brigade for Canapé-Vert, one of the latest Port-au-Prince neighborhoods to come under gang attack. The protest march, one of the largest since the 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse plunged the country deeper into despair, is a warning to Haiti's ruling authorities, which have been unable to bring relief amid the surge in gang attacks that led to the deaths of more than 5,600 people last year. Ahead of the demonstration, rumors circulated of pending gang attacks both in the capital and in Haiti's Central Plateau region, which led police to be on the offensive and concerned residents to remain home. More protests are expected this week both in the capital and in Léogâne, another city that has been hit by the violence. Wednesday's protest took place a day before the one-year anniversary of the political accord that was supposed to return stability to Haiti with the guidance of the ruling nine member presidential council. However, the power-sharing arrangement, which was created with the help of the Caribbean Community and the U.S. in Jamaica in March 2024, has not lived up to expectations. Haiti is unlikely to see a vote on a new constitutional referendum this year, or to have general elections, which were last held in 2016. The council has been engulfed in controversy amid accusations over corruption allegations involving three of its members and instead of relief from gangs, Haitians are seeing a tightening of their grip. As much as 90% of metropolitan Port-au-Prince is under the control of criminal groups, which in recent weeks have escalated their attacks. On Monday, the violence hit Haiti's Central Plateau after gangs stormed the rural town of Mirebalais, 31 miles northeast of the capital and not far from the border with the Dominican Republic. After setting fire to part of the police substation and burning vehicles in the yard, gangs stormed the prison and freed more than 500 inmates. The incident also led to widespread looting and the burning of homes, schools and churches, the United Nations said. In the mayhem, two Roman Catholic nuns were shot dead. The nuns, identified as Sister Evanette Onezaire and Sister Jeanne Voltaire, were working at the National School in Mirebalais and had taken refuge in a house along with a young girl. Armed gang members entered the house and shot the sisters to death. The young girl was shot in the chest. Her status remains unknown. The nuns' killings were reported to the Vatican. A voice message on WhatsApp from a nun talking about the slaying said the incident happened around 7 p.m. and others in the house were also killed by gangs that came onto the property two hours before. On Tuesday, residents continued to flee the town amid more gang attacks and growing concerns that Mirebalais could fall to gangs. In a post on X, the nonprofit organization Zanmi Lasante, which runs the 350-bed University Hospital of Mirebalais, issued a plea. 'The brutal attacks on Mirebalais threaten one of Haiti's most critical hospitals. If Mirebalais falls, Haiti's health system faces collapse. Hundreds of thousands will be left without life-saving care. The world must act NOW,' the organization said. In response to the violence police have sent reinforcements to the town and replaced the head of the local police. They also confiscated an armored loader that the gangs had been using. The violence in Mirebalais and Saut d'Eau, which connects the Haitian capital with the center of the country, forced a total of 5,981 to flee their places of residence, the U.N. International Organization for Migrants said Wednesday 'The majority of displaced individuals (83%) found refuge within host communities, while 17% settled in 14 displacement sites newly established as a result of this incident,' the U.N. said. The incident in Haiti's center highlights how gang activity is expanding beyond the West region, where Port-au-Prince is located, Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres told journalists in New York on Wednesday. As protesters in Port-au-Prince divided themselves into different groups and prepared as early as 8 a.m. to march on government offices, Mirebalais continued to be under threat. Gunshots were reported in the city as the fight against gangs suffered another setback: a helicopter, leased from the government of Taiwan to help Haitian authorities transport police troops and members of the Kenya-led Multinational Security Support mission to hot zones, was reported to be out of commission. The day, before armed gangs fired on the chopper, striking a police officer onboard in the arm.
The Hill
03-04-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Gunfire as thousands protest in Haiti to denounce a surge in gang violence
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Gunfire erupted as thousands of protesters in Haiti clashed with police on Wednesday as they denounced a surge in gang violence and demanded that the government keep them safe. At least a dozen heavily armed protesters opened fire on officers who responded outside the offices of the prime minister and the transitional presidential council. An AP journalist at the scene did not see anyone injured or killed. It is the first major protest to hit the administration of Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, whom the council appointed as prime minister in November. The whizzing bullets caused the crowd to flee in panic, with shoes, caps and sunglasses left strewn on the street. The protest began peacefully. Some demonstrators brandished machetes while others clutched tree boughs or waved palm fronds as they weaved through the streets of Port-au-Prince, where schools, banks and other businesses remained closed. Flaming tires blocked roads as protesters chanted, 'Let's go, let's go, let's go and get them out!' One organizer, who covered his face and declined to give his name for fear of reprisal, said the purpose of the protest was to 'take over the prime minister's office and burn down the CPT,' referring to the offices of Haiti's transitional presidential council. Discontent and anger is spreading as gangs that already control 85% of Port-au-Prince pillage once-peaceful communities. Recent gang violence has forced more than 60,000 people to flee their homes in one month alone, according to the U.N.'s International Organization for Migration. 'We have never observed such large number of people moving in this short time,' said Grégoire Goodstein, the organization's chief in Haiti. In a visit to Port-au-Prince in early March, William O'Neill, the U.N. human rights commissioner's expert on Haiti, described the capital as 'an open-air prison.' 'There is no safe way to enter or leave the capital except by helicopter,' he said. 'Gangs are invading previously safe neighborhoods, killing, raping and burning houses, businesses, churches and schools.' Gangs also have pillaged communities beyond Port-au-Prince. On Monday, they attacked the city of Mirebalais in central Haiti and stormed a prison, releasing more than 500 inmates. The attack on Mirebalais and the nearby town of Saut d'Eau left more than 5,900 people homeless, according to an IOM report released Wednesday. A recent U.N. report found that more than 4,200 people were reported killed across Haiti from July to February, and another 1,356 were injured. O'Neill has called on the international community to do more to support a U.N.-backed mission led by Kenyan police that is helping Haitian officers quell gang violence. However, the mission only has about 40% of the 2,500 personnel envisioned and has struggled to hold back gangs.
Miami Herald
03-04-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Thousands march against gangs in Haiti as Vatican is notified of murder of two nuns
Thousands of Haitians marched through the streets of the country's volatile capital on Wednesday, defying tear gas and gangs as they vented their anger against the surge in gang violence and demanded the resignation of the country's transitional authorities and the head of the Haiti National Police. During the massive protest, demonstrators brandished machetes and firearms. Others waved tree branches and red and black flags, once the symbol of the Duvalier dictatorship, but which has since become associated with other forces in Haiti. Protesters burned tires and blocked roads as they traveled down from Pétion-Ville and up from Delmas to converge on the offices of Haiti's Transitional Presidential Council and prime minister. Along the road, new graffiiti emerged in red: 'Aba Primature,' 'Aba CPT' — Down with the prime minister's office and Down with the Transitional Presidential Council. Threatening to attack both the offices of the Council and Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, the crowd at one point ripped up an aluminum billboard sign, threw it on the ground and beat it with hammers. As they got closer to the offices, however, they were met by riot police who fired tear gas and, according to journalists on the scene, live rounds. While some protesters fled, others began throwing rocks. A Haitian police spokesman did not respond to a request from the Miami Herald about the use of live ammunition to disperse protest crowds. The protest was organized by a police officer who is assigned to the specialized unit inside the presidential palace, and heads a so-called citizens self-defense brigade for Canapé-Vert, one of the latest Port-au-Prince neighborhoods to come under gang attack. The protest march, one of the largest since the 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse plunged the country deeper into despair, is a warning to Haiti's ruling authorities, which have been unable to bring relief amid the surge in gang attacks that led to the deaths of more than 5,600 people last year. Ahead of the demonstration, rumors circulated of pending gang attacks both in the capital and in Haiti's Central Plateau region, which led police to be on the offensive and concerned residents to remain home. More protests are expected this week both in the capital and in Léogâne, another city that has been hit by the violence. Wednesday's protest took place a day before the one-year anniversary of the political accord that was supposed to return stability to Haiti with the guidance of the ruling nine member presidential council. However, the power-sharing arrangement, which was created with the help of the Caribbean Community and the U.S. in Jamaica in March 2024, has not lived up to expectations. Haiti is unlikely to see a vote on a new constitutional referendum this year, or to have general elections, which were last held in 2016. The council has been engulfed in controversy amid accusations over corruption allegations involving three of its members and instead of relief from gangs, Haitians are seeing a tightening of their grip. As much as 90% of metropolitan Port-au-Prince is under the control of criminal groups, which in recent weeks have escalated their attacks. On Monday, the violence hit Haiti's Central Plateau after gangs stormed the rural town of Mirebalais, 31 miles northeast of the capital and not far from the border with the Dominican Republic. After setting fire to part of the police substation and burning vehicles in the yard, gangs stormed the prison and freed more than 500 inmates. The incident also led to widespread looting and the burning of homes, schools and churches, the United Nations said. In the mayhem, two Roman Catholic nuns were shot dead. The nuns, identified as Sister Evanette Onezaire and Sister Jeanne Voltaire, were working at the National School in Mirebalais and had taken refuge in a house along with a young girl. Armed gang members entered the house and shot the sisters to death. The young girl was shot in the chest. Her status remains unknown. The nuns' killings were reported to the Vatican. A voice message on WhatsApp from a nun talking about the slaying said the incident happened around 7 p.m. and others in the house were also killed by gangs that came onto the property two hours before. On Tuesday, residents continued to flee the town amid more gang attacks and growing concerns that Mirebalais could fall to gangs. In a post on X, the nonprofit organization Zanmi Lasante, which runs the 350-bed University Hospital of Mirebalais, issued a plea. 'The brutal attacks on Mirebalais threaten one of Haiti's most critical hospitals. If Mirebalais falls, Haiti's health system faces collapse. Hundreds of thousands will be left without life-saving care. The world must act NOW,' the organization said. In response to the violence police have sent reinforcements to the town and replaced the head of the local police. They also confiscated an armored loader that the gangs had been using. The violence in Mirebalais and Saut d'Eau, which connects the Haitian capital with the center of the country, forced a total of 5,981 to flee their places of residence, the U.N. International Organization for Migrants said Wednesday 'The majority of displaced individuals (83%) found refuge within host communities, while 17% settled in 14 displacement sites newly established as a result of this incident,' the U.N. said. The incident in Haiti's center highlights how gang activity is expanding beyond the West region, where Port-au-Prince is located, Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres told journalists in New York on Wednesday. As protesters in Port-au-Prince divided themselves into different groups and prepared as early as 8 a.m. to march on government offices, Mirebalais continued to be under threat. Gunshots were reported in the city as the fight against gangs suffered another setback: a helicopter, leased from the government of Taiwan to help Haitian authorities transport police troops and members of the Kenya-led Multinational Security Support mission to hot zones, was reported to be out of commission. The day, before armed gangs fired on the chopper, striking a police officer onboard in the arm.
