Haiti government extends state of emergency following increasing gang violence

The government of Haiti extended the state of emergency around Port-Au-Prince Thursday following the increasing escalation of gang violence and the displacement of thousands.

The state of emergency bans all forms of public protest, day and night, introduces a new curfew and grants security forces the ability to use “all legal means” to enforce the curfew and punish those who break it. It is set to last until April 3.

Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, urged the international community to act “swiftly and decisively to prevent Haiti’s further descent into chaos.” According to Türk, around 4500 inmates, many of whom are prominent gang members, were broken out of jail during the most recent riots and chaos. Some were also associated with the assassination of Jovenel Moïse. Over 1,193 people have been killed in the riots since the beginning of the year, with a further 692 injured. 

The UN launched a multinational mission led by Kenya to aid the Haitian government, but this has been delayed because the Kenyan Supreme Court deemed the number of troops unconstitutional.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned in a recent press release that the Haitian health care system is “near collapse” and that the World Food Program (WFP) has been forced to suspend its maritime service, which delivers food and medical supplies into the country, due to the ongoing riots. Currently, over twenty trucks with food, medicine, and other supplies are stuck in Haitian ports and cannot be delivered.

Prime Minister Ariel Henry is currently out of the country because of riots at the international airport, which forced his plane to land in Puerto Rico, where the FBI is reportedly surveilling him.