Latest news with #Kenya-led
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.
Winnipeg Free Press
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
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.
San Francisco Chronicle
22-05-2025
- Politics
- San Francisco Chronicle
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.'
Associated Press
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
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.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Top Democrat in Senate Foreign Relations Committee urges Rubio to prioritize Haiti crisis
The top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is calling on Secretary of State Marco Rubio to prioritize U.S. efforts to deal with the crisis of gang violence in Haiti. Rubio, who supported Haiti while he was in the Senate, should reconsider restoring funding cuts, push for money for the ongoing international armed mission to fight gangs and engage with Russia and China in high-level conversations to lay the groundwork for a formal United Nations peacekeeping mission, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire said. Shaheen outlined her concerns and recommendations to Rubio in a three-page letter, shared with the Miami Herald, that shows she's been closely monitoring the worsening crisis in Haiti. 'Absent strong U.S. leadership, Haiti is on the path to becoming a failed state overrun by armed criminal groups — a tragedy that would exacerbate an already dire humanitarian catastrophe for the Haitian people, produce a mass migration emergency with huge regional implications and risk consolidating a transnational criminal and drug trafficking hub mere hundreds of miles from U.S. shores,' Shaheen said. READ MORE: Designating Haiti's gangs as terrorists risks humanitarian aid | Opinion The letter comes amid a lack of clear U.S. policy toward Haiti amid the worsening humanitarian and security situation, and deepening concerns about the future of the under-resourced and ill-equipped Kenya-led Multinational Security Support mission, which is in danger of falling apart. Funding for the mission has stalled and several Caribbean countries have put their promised deployments on hold. Only about 1,000 of the 2,500 envisioned security personnel have been sent to Haiti. In June, the operator of the U.S.-built mission base adjacent to the Port-au-Prince international airport will need to be notified if it will get a $200 million payment to continue operations for six months after the contract comes up for renewal in September. Meanwhile, money is still needed for critical equipment, more troops and a base to expand the current deployment. Shaheen acknowledged in her letter that 'despite some laudable efforts' by the U.S. and international community to deal with the situation — Kenya's leadership over the security mission and the establishment of the Transitional Presidential Council — 'these efforts have failed to change the status quo and the Haitian people are worse off today than they were even a year ago.' In the short term, she added, continued political, logistical and financial support for the Kenya-led mission 'is the most feasible and realistic option to stabilize the security crisis,' Shaheen wrote, adding that the Trump administration needs to make adjustments. That includes pushing the multinational mission 'beyond a primary focus on protecting critical infrastructure to sustained... operations against criminal groups and key targets with a strategic focus on gaining and maintaining territorial control.' That means developing plans for bolstering bases to accommodate a mission force of between 2,500 and 5,000 personnel, Shaheen said. 'The Administration should also develop concrete metrics for evaluating... progress, expand the number of military personnel with counter insurgency expertise and ensure sufficient staff and budget to create the twelve operational bases established in the 2024 Concept of Operation agreed to by the United States and Kenya,' she said. Since the Kenyans began deploying last June with the first group of police officers, the mission and Haitian police have struggled to stop the onslaught of armed gangs, which have seized even more territory in the last year while carrying out kidnappings and killings. At the same time, the country continues to be hit by natural disasters, complicating a dire humanitarian situation where more than a million people have displaced from their homes by gangs. On Monday, U.N. aid groups in Haiti reported that recent rainfall in the northeast region led to widespread flooding that damaged farms and vital infrastructure as well as more than 3,900 homes. Initial assessments indicate loss of livestock and destruction of small farms, Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, said. Key roads were also damaged, hindering access to affected communities. Last week, gangs reduced a major auto dealership, Automeca, to ashes in Port-au-Prince just a month before it was set to celebrate its 57th anniversary on June 28. The next day, gangs invaded the community of Furcy in the hills of Kenscoff above the capital, attacking a police station and burning homes in the area. Gangs with the Viv Ansanm coalition also set fire to The Lodge, a well-known hotel in the area. Masillon Jean, the mayor of Kenscoff, said that while the police managed to take back the Furcy station, armed gang members still occupy a school and Catholic church in the area. An unknown number of residents have been killed while others seriously wounded, he added, and authorities still have not been able to get into the area due to the presence of armed gangs, which have cut off the road and erected barricades. 'There needs to be an operation to dislodge these guys from Furcy,' Jean said on Monday during an interview on Port-au-Prince Magik 9. The intensified attacks have continued despite the Trump administration's designation of Haiti's powerful armed gangs as foreign and global terrorists earlier this month. That includes 27 gangs that are part of the Viv Ansanm coalition and the Gran Grief gang operating in the Artibonite region. Both groups have been labeled Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists by Rubio. Shaheen said she's 'deeply skeptical' over the effectiveness of the designations to hold Haitian gangs and their political and economic enablers accountable and is concerned that the delivery of humanitarian assistance could be impeded by the designation. READ MORE: Open letter to the United Nations: Haitians need help now | Opinion There are as many as a half million illegal firearms in Haiti's criminal market, the vast majority of which are trafficked to from the U.S., Shaheen said, and the administration should do more to target arms trafficking networks into Haiti. 'Ending Haiti's gang violence is not possible without taking our own concrete steps to investigate and dismantle this arms trafficking network,' she said. 'I urge you to work with your inter-agency partners and Dominican Republic authorities to improve illicit firearms tracing and recovery in Haiti.' The U.S. has been the key financial backer of the security mission in Haiti, which was authorized by the U.N. but dependent on voluntary contributions. Last month as the U.N. Security Council met to discuss the situation, the Trump administration said it could no longer keep carrying such a significant financial burden. At the same time, the administration has been cutting funds, imposed a 10% tariff on Haitian goods entering the U.S. and has not said whether it supports efforts to create a formal U.N. peacekeeping mission or a plan by Guterres to share some of the burden by using the U.N.'s peacekeeping budget. The deepening uncertainty and chaotic security situation already had its first political casualty over the weekend. A previously announced referendum on Haiti's constitution, previewed for May 11, did not take place. General elections, which are being planned for this November, also appear increasingly out of reach. 'It is in the U.S. national interest to act before it is too late. Given your strong leadership on issues in the Western Hemisphere... I am confident you understand that Haiti's security situation has direct security implications for the United States,' Shaheen wrote Rubio. 'While there should be a strong emphasis on burden sharing, it is in the U.S. national interest to lean forward, not pull back from Haiti.'
