Haitian bishops urge end to ‘genocide’ of defenceless people by gangs

By Lisa Zengarini

As gang violence continues to grip Haiti, the Catholic bishops of the island nation have launched yet another appeal calling for action from Haitian authorities and the international community to stop what they describe as a “genocide” against “defenceless” people.

“We, the bishops of the Catholic Church of Haiti, echo the 'cry of an entire people faced with abandonment' and experience with bitterness and pain the suffering of our people caused by the blind violence of heavily armed bandits”, reads a strongly worded statement which calls into question “the cynicism and the indifference of political leaders, and the hesitation of the international community.”

Rampant criminal violence

One of the poorest countries in the world, Haiti has faced rampant criminal violence for years. It has also suffered from periodic natural disasters and a long-standing political deadlock made worse by the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021.

The statement recalls that for at least four years Haiti has been going through “one of the longest and most lethal socio-political and security crises in its history”, with armed gangs taking control of many areas of the country.  

Gangs have grown more powerful since President Moïse’s assassination, and they are estimated to control up to 80% of the capital Port-au-Prince.

Killings, turf wars, extortions and kidnappings, also targeting priests and religious happen on a daily basis.  According to recent UN statistics, gang-related violence this year has claimed more than 2,500 lives, with over 1,000 injured, while nearly 1,000 Haitians have been kidnapped.

Gangs are also involved in horrifying cases of sexual violence, including collective rape and mutilation, perpetrated to spread fear, punish rivals, and target women and girls under their territorial control.

The latest wave of violence has also resulted in the forced displacement of over 10,000 people who have sought refuge in makeshift camps and host families.

A low-intensity war against peaceful and unarmed people 

“A defenceless population” is held hostage by “the ruthless violence of the gangs and their allies, and blocked by the inaction and complicit silence of the Government” the bishops decry in their statement, recalling that these crimes  are accompanied, among other things, by attacks on churches and places of worship of various religions, which can no longer be used.

Frustrated by lack of security and functioning government, some Haitian citizens have decided to take justice in their hands by organizing “self-defence groups" targeting suspected gang members. More than 350 people have been brutally killed or lynched since the uprising began the UN has recently reported.

This genocide must be stopped

According to the Haitian bishops, in the face the barbarism that is taking hold in the  country, “the solution is not to remain passive." They therefore call on all the people of God and ecclesial institutions to react, and invite priests, religious and laypeople to organize a novena of prayer on the occasion of the feast of Saint Michael the Archangel, to free the country from gang violence : “Wherever we are our solidarity, our closeness, our prayers, our exhortations as citizens and as a people can contribute to this”.

The bishops also express their “hopeful support” to all efforts towards a peaceful solution of the crisis, reiterating to the world that “this genocide must be stopped”.

To this end they call upon those currently in power “to take strong and concrete steps towards true reconciliation here and now in Haiti” and urge public authorities and other sectors of Haitian society “to put an end to their complicity” with armed gangs, and to contribute to building political and social dialogue “on the basis of the real needs of the population."

The request for the deployment of a foreign armed force in Haiti

In October 2022, the Haitian government requested the immediate deployment of a foreign armed force to stem gang violence. So far only Kenya has offered to lead the multinational force, with the support of the UN and the US, and in August a delegation of Kenyan top officials visited Haiti as part of a reconnaissance mission.