‘Lawless’ Haiti plagued by corruption, and deadly gang violence fuels humanitarian crisis

The situation in Haiti has become so dire that the US, Canada and the United Nations have once again turned their attention to the Caribbean nation as gang violence reaches new highs and violent deaths mount.

In an interview with a Haitian doctor from his home in the capital city of Port-au-Prince, Haitian gangs have turned to extreme measures with reported atrocities during the genocide in Rwanda.

Anarchy, tyranny, civil war, and “The Purge” were all used to describe what reality looked like for people living within Western borders on the island of Hispaniola.

A man walks past a burning barricade during a protest against Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henri on October 10, 2022 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. (Richard Pierin / AFP via Getty Images)

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“Even when you are in your home, you don’t feel safe. What you see is people walking on the street with big guns. Guns like it’s a war scene, they have M-16, AK-47, Galileo. They have grenades, they have smoke, they have everything,” the doctor, who wished to remain anonymous due to security concerns, told Fox News Digital.

Since 2010, a series of natural disasters, a crippled economy, the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent assassination of then-president Jovenel Mosse have pushed Haiti into a state of chaos, and as a result, it is now the poorest country in the West. Is. Hemisphere – and the gangs have taken over.

Hundreds of thousands of Haitians have flocked to the US border in desperate attempts to escape poverty and violence in Haiti, but the level of danger in the Caribbean nation is rising to unprecedented levels.

“Gangs control everybody,” said Jack Brewer, founder of a global foundation who has lived in Haiti since the devastating 2010 earthquakes. “Kidnapping, drug trafficking, human trafficking – that’s their business.”

In order to exert control over the people of Haiti, gangs have resorted to extreme violence against the public and those they see as their main threat: the police.

Armed police officers protest following a gang attack on a police station in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, January 26, 2023, which left six officers dead. (Richard Pierin / AFP via Getty Images)

Kidnapping has not only become the highest earner for the gangs, but it has also maintained an ever-increasing state of terror for Haitian citizens.

“This is going to another level,” said the doctor. “Earlier, they used to kidnap people on the street. Now they are breaking into people’s homes.”

The doctor explained that initially people with well-paying jobs were targeted for their businesses to pay the ransom, but as the trend of kidnapping increased, people stopped leaving their homes.

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Instead gangs have started sending letters containing threatening bullets, or even breaking into people’s homes to demand exorbitant sums of money – and when the family or individual cannot pay, gang torture , resort to arson and murder, often right in front of family members.

“They kill you. They torture you,” the doctor elaborated. “There was a video of a guy who was kidnapped. He didn’t get the money, and they started burning the plastic in his hand. Can you imagine the torture?”

When it comes to abuse at the hands of gangs, police officers find themselves at the top of the list.

A woman cries near a coffin during the funeral of three police officers at the National Police School in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, January 31, 2023. (Richard Pierin / AFP via Getty Images)

Fox News Digital reviewed several images and videos purportedly depicting police officers being stripped of their clothes, beaten, whipped and then dragged through the streets before being released to the public. Due to the extremely graphic nature of the footage and images, they were removed from this report.

Fox News could not independently verify the individual identities of the men in the digital video or images.

The targeted killings have resulted in an almost complete loss of the police force in Port-au-Prince, the doctor explained.

The doctor said, “There is no police present. There is no police.” “It’s completely lawless. If you call the police, they’re not coming.”

Another major issue with police officers being targeted is that their uniforms, cars and weapons have been confiscated by gang members, who disguise themselves as officers to pull people over and hold up check points. Where people are kidnapped or extorted for money.

Police officers patrol a street during a vigil in memory of three police officers killed by armed gangs in Petion-Ville, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, January 30, 2023. (Richard Pierin / AFP via Getty Images)

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Corruption has played a major role in the loss of the police force and lack of trust in the Haitian government.

The United Nations estimated earlier this year that 70 percent of Port-au-Price was controlled by Haitian hangars, but Doc said he believed it was much higher.

“It’s 99 percent,” argued the doctor. “Even if you don’t see them on the streets with guns, they have spies, they put people on motorcycles to see what’s happening in your street, in your area, To inform them. They are everywhere.”

Doc explained that their heavy presence was due to the old methods that gangs allegedly used in the ghetto to influence elections and prevent people from voting – a tactic that Doc said was politically incorrect. There is also a level of corruption Haiti has endured over the years.

When asked by Fox News Digital about Port-au-Prince native politicians, Doc pushed back and said, “The question is, can you find a politician who isn’t corrupt?”

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A man assists an injured woman during a protest demanding the resignation of Haiti’s Prime Minister Ariel Henry in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, October 10, 2022.

Fox News Digital could not verify allegations of corruption across the board in Haiti, although as of December, the US Treasury Department had cleared at least four “corrupt Haitian politicians for their involvement in drug trafficking.”

But narcotics are not the only illegal trafficking that occurs across international borders.

A UN report released earlier this month found Haitian gangs are being armed with weapons largely smuggled in from the US – supplied directly by the doctor – detailed “high-powered rifles” , such as AK-47, AR-15 and Galileo, gang members.

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime found, “A network of criminal actors, including members of the Haitian diaspora, often sources firearms from across the Americas.” “In US states with lax gun laws and fewer purchase restrictions, weapons are often purchased through straw man purchases.”

“Once acquired, the firearms and ammunition are transported to Florida, where they are concealed and shipped to Haiti,” the report said.

When pressed by Fox News Digital on how these weapons were able to reach such dangerous levels in Haiti, Brewer explained that it was all too simple.

“They’re clearing customs,” Brewer said. “The customs officers are clearly in the pocket of the gangsters – everyone is.

Echoing the allegations made by the doctor, he said, “Gangs control everyone, politicians control gangs.”

In 2022, more than 55 security officers were killed in Haiti, which is dealing with gang violence, kidnappings, robberies, rapes, food, water and fuel shortages, and cholera outbreaks. (Gerinault Louis / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

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The UN last week called on the international community to send a “time-bound special assistance force”.[s]”To help get control of the escalating situation.

In the first two weeks of March alone, at least 208 people have been killed, 164 wounded and 101 abducted in Haiti, the United Nations said – but the doctor suspects this is actually a lower figure. It was the end.

According to local reporting last year, the Biden administration has talked about deploying boots on the ground in Haiti, despite urging from the United Nations – a move the US has taken in the past and which some Haitians have already condemned .

The UN first proposed sending armed troops to hold the position in October – at which time the US said it supported it as long as another partner nation took the lead.

Demonstrators carry a casket covered with American, Canadian and French flags and pictures of politicians during a Jean-Jacques Dessalines Day protest in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on October 17, 2022. (Richard Pierin / AFP via Getty Images)

In an October resolution, US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield called for “a limited, carefully scoped, non-UN mission led by a partner country with deep, essential experience”. [was] This kind of effort is needed to be effective.”

But in his latest trip to Canada last week, President Joe Biden did not succeed in persuading Ottawa to lead the charge.

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“We need special forces coming from the states … to destroy all the gangs,” said the doctor, pushing back some Haitian opposition to foreign forces on the island.

The doctor also said that Haiti needed outside help to “screen” those in government to determine who was and was not involved in illegal and corrupt activities.

The doctor said, “We don’t know how to play this game. We don’t know what democracy is. We can’t lead ourselves.” “The tendency is, ‘I’m leaving Haiti, or I’m going to die.’