Weekly Blog - 17 March 2024 - Haiti Gang Violence

 

Haiti gang violence

The world has watched in horror as brutal gang violence has spiralled out of control in Haiti in the last few weeks.  Multiple heavily armed rival gangs now control more than 80% of the capital Port-au-Prince.  They have engaged in widespread gunfights, looting, lawlessness, extortion and sexual violence towards women and girls.  The gangs have attacked police officers, the airport, the port, and prisons, securing the release of thousands of violent criminals.  More than 360,000 people have fled their homes and many schools, shops and hospitals are closed.  The capital is under a state of emergency.  Goods are unable to get into the country, and the delivery of aid has to be negotiated with multiple armed factions.  Prime Minister Ariel Henry left the country in late January to visit Guyana and Kenya in an attempt to secure the deployment of foreign police forces to restore order in the nation.  He has been prevented from returning home by the gangs, and this week resigned.  Governments from the regional CARICOM group of nations and the US met in Jamaica this week to discuss plans to establish a Transitional Council to restore order to the country.  Kenya has committed to a 1000 strong police force with UN backing to help restore order if a functioning national authority can be reconstituted, and the US to back this with $400 to help re-establish order.

 

How did we get here?

The small Caribbean nation of Haiti, which shares a land border with the Dominican Republic, is the poorest nation in the Americas, and has a long history of political instability, corruption and extreme gang violence.  From 1957 – 1986 under the rule of François Duvalier, known as Papa Doc, and his son Jean Claude "Baby Doc", a paramilitary group called the Tonton Macoutes were used by the regime to crush opposition with brutal violence.  In the years since, gang violence has continued to play a major role in Haiti, with various gangs sometimes linked to different political factions.  This situation grew significantly worse after the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse by unknown gunmen in July 2021.  Prime Minister Ariel Henry assumed power following his death, but has repeatedly put off holding elections citing the lack of security as his reason, meaning the electoral terms of all serving officials have run out.  In this power vacuum, the gang violence has grown much worse to reach the current crisis point.

As discussed this week, other nations in the region want to see a Transitional Council established to reconstitute the political authority in the nation.  They see this as being made up of 7 voting members and 2 observers.  The members should be from several coalitions, the private sector, civil society and one religious leader.  The council will appoint an interim Prime Minister and move to hold proper elections soon after order is restored.  No members of the council should be able to stand in these.  However, with the security forces in Haiti overwhelmed and outgunned by the gangs, it seems likely that the formation of such a council will be dependent on the willingness of outside nations to deploy their own police forces under international auspices to enforce it.  Something that would be deeply resented by many Haitians, who may well perceive it as outside interference propping up an unaccountable regime, something which has happened multiple times in the country’s history.  Meanwhile the gangs are demanding to be part of a new power sharing national authority.^[1]

 

What can be done?

As Christians, we know that God hates all violent conflict.  He loves every person in Haiti, is heartbroken by every tragedy, and wants to see lasting peace in the nation.  As the Psalms tell us, “He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth.  He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire” (Psalm 46: 9).  Furthermore, the Bible also reminds us that our God is a God of justice, who wants to see every government in the world, including Haiti, ruling with order, establishing peace, fairness, equality, justice for all and good human rights.  As Jeremiah the prophet says, “Hear the word of the LORD to you, king of Judah, you who sits on David’s throne – you, your officials and your people who come through these gates.  This is what the LORD says: Do what is just and right.  Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed.  Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place” (Jer 2: 2 – 3).  What then might be the practical steps that can be taken to help end this tragedy?  Drawing from the teaching of the Bible, and all the lessons from civil conflicts around the world in the decades since the Second World War, one of the key areas that a major report from Arise, The Arise Manifesto, looks at in detail is what works to reduce and end civil conflict and extreme violence in nations were functioning government and law and order has broken down (Arise Manifesto, pg 129 – 136).  It also considers what pressure can be applied from outside of the nation by the international community to help with that process (Arise Manifesto, pg 119 – 124).

 

Support the legitimate government against minor factions and armed gangs

The report finds that in a minor conflict against illegitimate extremist or criminal factions with no real popular support, then the least violent route with the least suffering may indeed be to support the legitimate national authority to quickly overcome and regain complete control (Arise Manifesto, pg 129).  The Bible does teach that in fulfilling their duty to administer justice, national authorities are permitted to use limited force where necessary in policing actions to protect innocent citizens and enforce the law.  We see this in the Old Testament, in the law and the teaching on the role of kings and national authorities, but also in the New Testament, where John the Baptist, Jesus and Peter all seem to accept, and not criticise, the role of soldiers and national authorities to enforce justice.  Paul tells us, “rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong.  Do you want to be free from the fear of the one in authority?  Then do what is right and you will be commended.  For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good.  But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason.  They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment to the wrongdoer” (Roms 13: 3 – 4).  The state is the only institution in the Bible that is permitted to use force in any way (certainly the church and us as individual Christians should never use it), and even here that force must be significantly limited and restrained (Arise Manifesto, pg 81 – 82).  In the context of Haiti, with the overwhelmed nature of the national government and police force, this may well indeed look like a small international police force, under UN auspices, with a limited and time-bound mandate to supress the gangs, and restore order under the proposed Transitional Council.  The likelihood of this happening is clearly dependent on the will of the international community to engage in this way or not.

 

Negotiate a peace deal with all factions in more complex conflicts

On the other hand, the Arise Manifesto also finds that for nations embroiled in more serious protracted internal conflicts with no simple fast solutions, then a better approach might be for pressure to be applied to bring all sides to the negotiating table to agree a lasting, peaceful and harmonious political settlement.  If there is not the will or the ability from either the Haitian government or the international community to suppress the gangs and restore order under the proposed Transitional Council, then the only alternative route to peace, as distasteful as it may sound, is indeed to invite the major gang leaders into negotiations to form a new power sharing executive.  This has been the case in conflict after conflict around the world.  Those seeking to find peace and restore order have to deal with the realities of who holds power on the ground, no matter how brutal and violent those power holders may be.  The lessons from the Bible and from history would indicate that there are a number of key factors to get right in such negotiations.  The aim should be to reach a single ‘inclusive enough’ power sharing authority willing and capable of enforcing its will across the nation.  It should give the leaders of the major factions some kind of role in the new authority, thus strengthening their incentive for peace.  It should structure the political settlement in the nation in such a way that it requires those seeking office to have to reach out across community boundaries, rather than just appeal to their own community.  It should not rush to elections too soon in a still divided and volatile environment, until the new authority has had time to build more stability.

Furthermore, such negotiations should grant the legitimate demands of different communities for fair treatment, providing they harm no others.  This isolates hardline extremists (those few who will never be reconciled) from popular support, which means once re-established, legal and legitimate intelligence and police methods can then be used to arrest and prosecute them.  A crucial part of any agreement must also be to rapidly demobilise, disarm, reintegrate and find jobs for the young fighters from various factions, and agree the resettlement of internally displaced people.  Another key issue must be agreeing a rebuilding plan for the conflict-affected parts of the region, which should be generously resourced by the international community, with funds that are released once peace is agreed, providing further incentives.  These top-down peace negotiations should be matched with a bottom-up process of local reconciliation at the village and community level.  They should also involve a process of truth telling and reconciliation, similar to other such processes that have been successful in countries like South Africa and Rwanda.  This means telling the truth about the violence that has been committed; confessing that it was wrong; asking for forgiveness; turning away and rejecting the use of violence in the future; and receiving forgiveness and amnesty from prosecution for those crimes (Arise Manifesto, pg 89 – 90). 

 

Essential first steps for a new national authority

Whichever route is taken to get to the re-establishment of a national authority with the will and capability to restore order, it will be essential for that new national authority to produce some rapid confidence building results, otherwise the nation could all too easily slide back into violence again.  All the lessons from similar processes around the world would indicate this is crucial, especially in two areas which people living in such conflict regions desire above all else.  The first is to protect them from the daily terror of lawlessness and brutal armed factions by demonstrating that the new regional authority is providing security, justice and the rule of law.  The second is to create jobs and economic development, through focusing on policies to ensure the growth of a strong and fair economy.  This is critical in an area like Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, where young men with few prospects and a history of violence can all too easily turn back to brutal crime and insurrection.  To prevent this, means following the kinds of policies outlined in another major report by Arise, 4 Shifts, which looks at what is needed to create, strong, fair and green economies in even the poorest countries in the world (4 Shifts, pg 56 – 60, 70 – 86).  Rapid results in these two areas will ensure all sides have much to lose and little to gain by returning to conflict.

Of course the final details of any eventual peace deal or political settlement will be for the people of Haiti and the nearby nations to decide.  The road from here back to lasting peace, order, stability and prosperity is not going to be easy, and no doubt will be fraught with violence and setbacks along the way.  Such an approach as that outlined above is of course a lot easier to write and read about, than it is to implement in a hard, complex, poor and violent reality.  Nevertheless, such an approach, drawn from all the lessons from the Bible and from dozens of similar conflicts around the world in the decades since the end of the Second World War (Arise Manifesto, pg 129 – 136), does offer a tried and tested blueprint for moving out of the current situation of protracted violence and into more permanent peace and stability in Haiti.  There is also much that individual Christians, the church and the international community can do to support and apply pressure to all sides to help with this crucial process (Arise Manifesto, pg 119 – 124).

 

Find out more

Find out more about steps to prevent, reduce and end conflicts in the Arise Manifesto.  This report is Arise’s big picture, researched, Biblical, holistic and practical vision for a better world.  It looks at what the Bible says, and what we can learn from the best data and the world’s leading experts on the five major areas of evangelism, discipleship, social justice, development and the environment.  It then draws these lessons together into a practical road map for the changes we need to see in our world, which the Arise movement campaigns to achieve.

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[1] Haiti gangs: The spiraling power of criminal groups, BBC, (4 Mar 20204), https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-68466563