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PORT-AU-PRINCE,
Haiti—In
recent weeks, United Nations peacekeepers in
Haiti,
among them Philippine police officers and soldiers, have
had clashes with heavily armed kidnapping gangs whose
activities are increasing.
The
peacekeeping mission has expressed alarm over the
growing number of kidnappings, gang activity and other
acts of criminality in the Caribbean nation that is
still struggling—four years after democratic elections
for a new government—for political stability and
economic progress.
“We have
noted an increase in the number of kidnappings and other
criminal activities here in
Haiti,”
said Mona Afifi, public information officer of the UN
peacekeeping mission, known as Minustah. “The UN
peacekeepers recently fought with heavily armed gangs
because we vowed to maintain our operations against
these gangs responsible for the crimes.”
The
crime spree has been worsened by riots over food and
other basic needs in past weeks, as soaring prices of
fuel and the staple rice, among others, sent desperate
people through the streets.
The
peacekeeping force includes police from 20
countries—including the Philippines, Argentina, Brazil,
Canada, France, Pakistan, Nepal, Spain; and soldiers
from 38 nations including the Philippines, Benin,
Colombia, Chad, China, Romania, Russia, Turkey, United
States, Jordan, El Savador and Egypt.
Haitian
police and UN peacekeepers have registered more than 150
kidnapped for ransom cases since the start of 2008. For
the whole year in 2007, about 237 abductions were
listed. Also from 2005 until 2006, Minustah registered
1,356 kidnappings. But many other kidnappings go
unreported.
Afifi
told BusinessMirror the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti
has been working with the national police force to
dismantle criminal gangs wanted for kidnapping, murder,
and other crimes. Ransoms are the Haitian gangs’ key
source of income.
Last
week, in a joint operation in
Port-au-Prince,
Afifi said local police and the peacekeepers arrested
four men suspected of forming the heart of a criminal
gang known as Chochonet.
“Our
mission is to combat persistently high levels of crime,
particularly kidnappings as well as assist local
authorities to establish a rule of law in the country.
We are in a difficult position because we go places
where nobody else wants to go. So we really need a
strong support from the international community,” she
said.
The
Haitian capital,
Port-au-Prince, has been plagued by violence since a bloody revolt
toppled then-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 2004,
leaving business establishments empty, scaring away
foreign investors, and destabilizing government. Almost
every sector of society has been targeted, including
schoolchildren and foreigners.
Afifi
added Haiti has no military troops yet or enough police
officers, and the UN peacekeeping mission continue to
train more policemen and soldiers to build up to
strength the force at a level where it would
independently be able to fully provide the country’s
security.
“It is
extremely difficult to assure security in Haiti. But we
are optimistic that the situation here will improve if
there is government action to address the food crisis,
corruption, and human rights. Stability is the key,”
said Afifi.
On
Wednesday last week, at least 2,000 Haitian protesters
rallied outside the Justice Ministry and Supreme Court
here demanding that officials crack down on kidnappers
and waved several enlarged photos of victims killed by
kidnap for ransom gangs. One photo is that of a
16-year-old schoolboy killed last month although his
parents paid the ransom.
“The
kidnapping of children has increased exponentially over
the past few days and weeks,” the Unicef representative
in Haiti, Annamaria Laurini, said last week here in the
capital,
Port-au-Prince.
She said
at least 50 children have been kidnapped already this
year compared to 31 for the first five months of last
year. More than half the victims are girls.
“There
is no acceptable motive or rationale for these crimes as
there is no acceptable excuse that they should be
allowed to continue with flagrant impunity,” said
Laurini. |
