More than 530 people have been killed by gangs since January in Haiti, according to the UN. Violence has worsened since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021, and the political and security climate in the country is not improving.
Worse: "The state loses control of Haitian territory, there are areas where we can no longer pass," Arnel Rémy, a member of the Port-au-Prince bar, told France 24. He continues: "(Today) almost all areas are controlled by armed bandits, and cases of kidnapping are recurrent."
"The situation is difficult, the people are suffering," said the lawyer, who heads the Collective of Lawyers for the Defense of Human Rights (Caddho). He notes a "nonchalance of the Haitian state" in the fight against insecurity in the country, and deplores the "lack of means" of the police to deal with armed gangs: "The bandits have many more weapons than our policemen."
Currently, the lawyer sees "no way out, no hope, no solution in sight" for the country: "The only hope that the Haitian people had was a decision on an international scale (...). (But at this level) there is some hesitation, it seems that everyone is afraid to deal with the Haiti file."
>> Watch: "Haiti plunged into gang chaos: UN calls on international community to react"
Asked if foreign intervention would be necessary to restore security in the country, Arnel Rémy replied that "opinions are divided": "Many people believe that this is not the best solution. Others believe that (foreign) support for the Haitian National Police could help solve this issue that plagues Haitian society."
During President Joe Biden's visit to Canada on Friday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced an envelope of 100 million Canadian dollars (nearly 68 million euros) to support the training of Haitian law enforcement agencies. An announcement likely to change the situation on the spot? "The Haitian people no longer have confidence in this kind of statement," says the Haitian lawyer. "This is not going to alleviate the misery of the people. And the insecurity raging in the country offers no political hope at the moment."
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