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The HSD Trendmonitor is designed to provide access to relevant content on various subjects in the safety and security domain, to identify relevant developments and to connect knowledge and organisations. The safety and security domain encompasses a vast number of subjects. Four relevant taxonomies (type of threat or opportunity, victim, source of threat and domain of application) have been constructed in order to visualize all of these subjects. The taxonomies and related category descriptions have been carefully composed according to other taxonomies, European and international standards and our own expertise.
In order to identify safety and security related trends, relevant reports and HSD news articles are continuously scanned, analysed and classified by hand according to the four taxonomies. This results in a wide array of observations, which we call ‘Trend Snippets’. Multiple Trend Snippets combined can provide insights into safety and security trends. The size of the circles shows the relative weight of the topic, the filters can be used to further select the most relevant content for you. If you have an addition, question or remark, drop us a line at info@securitydelta.nl.
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There is a high risk of increased gang violence amid rising authoritarianism in Haiti
The upsurge of violence in Haiti is largely tied to the operations of local gangs whose activities are often connected to political developments in the country. In 2020, the majority of violence against civilians was perpetrated by both known and unidentified criminal groups. The rise of gang violence is likely connected to the end of President Jovenel Moise’s constitutional mandate on 7 February 2021 and to the upcoming elections scheduled for September 2021.
Amid a worsening political crisis, the security situation
in Haiti has continued to deteriorate as levels of
gang violence have increased. Throughout 2020, violence
against civilians in the country rose by nearly
35% compared to 2019. Violence has been concentrated
mostly in the impoverished neighborhoods of
Port-au-Prince, which are divided and controlled by
local gang lords.
The upsurge of violence in Haiti is largely tied to
the operations of local gangs whose activities are
often connected to political developments in the
country. In 2020, the majority of violence against
civilians was perpetrated by both known and unidentified
criminal groups. The rise of gang violence
is likely connected to the end of President Jovenel
Moise’s constitutional mandate on 7 February 2021
and to the upcoming elections scheduled for September
2021. Political elites in power in Haiti have
long relied on gangs to terrorize the population and
suppress opposition votes through intimidation and
the use of force against residents of marginalized
neighborhoods in the capital — hotbeds of Haiti’s
political opposition (Haiti Progres, 22 October 2020).
In exchange, gangs receive government support in
the form of funds, weapons, and the assurance that
their crimes will go unpunished. In October 2020,
the leader of the G-9 gang alliance — a coalition
of several gangs, formed in June 2020 under the
leadership of former police officer Jimmy Chérizier
— released a video in which he publicly threatened
demonstrators, to dissuade them from participating
in an anti-government march (Gazette Haiti, 17
October 2020). This trend has also been observed
outside of Port-au-Prince, with similar radio threats
made in July by a gang leader in the Sud-Est region
of the country, following a demonstration against
rising insecurity.
Civilians are often targeted and exploited by the
warring gangs. Gangs terrorize civilians as they win
rival territories and as a means to ensure the population’s
allegiance. In 2020, sexual violence tripled
compared to 2019, suggesting that gangs increasingly
use rape as a weapon of war. The number of
kidnappings for ransom in 2020 also spiked compared
to 2019, with at least 27 kidnappings recorded
by ACLED. While some observers argue that kidnapping
is part of gangs’ ‘terror toolkit’, others claim
that ransoms have been part of a strategy to secure
alternative sources of revenue for gangs that are no
longer sponsored by political elites (Le Nouvelliste,
22 June 2020).
In 2020, ACLED records at least 17 attacks targeting
judges, lawyers, political activists, and current and
former civil servants. Targeted killings are facilitated
by a weak judicial system and a culture of impunity.