Living Together: The Gangs of Haiti - Part 2: Fighting Back

Part 2 - 'Fighting Back'In 2022, a video emerged of an alleged senior gang member, Zo Pwason, who had been caught by an armed group of Haitian citizens, led by Commissioner Jean-Ernest Muscadin. Zo Pwason was allegedly a senior member of the 5 Segond gang. He was executed by the armed group.Muscadin declared that “As long as I am government commissioner, the city of Miragoâne will remain a cemetery for bandits”.In this episode we look at those citizens that have fought back against the growing power of the gangs, and the emergence of the 'Bwa Kale' movement in 2023. These self-defence or vigilante groups protect their neighbourhoods from the gangs, and target suspected gang members.We'll discuss how the gangs control areas through violence, limiting movement and the frequent targeting women and girls.But we'll also follow on from the last episode and explore the connections to other illicit markets like drugs and people smuggling, as well as the proliferation of firearms flowing into the country, the vast majority of which come from the US.And finally, we'll discuss the previous scandal-ridden recent UN mission to the country.SpeakersJacqueline Charles, Haiti/Caribbean Correspondent, Miami Herald. Widlore Merancourt, Editor-in-chief for Ayibopost & reporter for the Washington Post on its Haiti coverageWilliam (Bill) G. O'Neill, UN Independent Expert on the Human Rights Situation in Haiti Romain Le Cour Grandmaison, Senior Expert, Global Initiative against Transnational Organized CrimeSophie Rutenbar, Visiting scholar at the New York University Center on International CooperationGITOC LinksThe GI-TOC Observatory of Violence and Resilience in HaitiWill the Artibonite massacre be a turning point in Haiti - https://globalinitiative.net/analysis/artibonite-massacre-haiti/Gangs of Haiti: Expansion, power and an escalating crisis - https://globalinitiative.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/GITOC-Gangs-of-Haiti.pdfViolence in Haiti: A continuation of politics by other means? - https://globalinitiative.net/analysis/violence-in-haiti-politics-crime-gangs/Additional Linkshttps://www.devex.com/news/in-haiti-no-one-is-surprised-by-the-oxfam-scandal-92342https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/25/haitians-wary-as-kenyan-police-arrive-on-latest-us-backed-missionhttps://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/02/12/oxfam-scandal-deepens-allegations-sex-aid-abuse-charity-shops/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/oxfam-child-abuse-haiti-scandal-inquiry-sexual-exploitation-charity-commission-a8953566.htmlhttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-48593401https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/15/timeline-oxfam-sexual-exploitation-scandal-in-haitihttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c04UG5-T_IM&t=3shttps://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/10/6/un-peacekeepers-leave-haiti-what-is-their-legacyhttps://edition.cnn.com/2023/09/15/americas/haiti-un-peacekeepers-trust-fund-sexual-abuse-as-equals-intl-cmd/index.htmlhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miwOl12A2fEhttps://www.reuters.com/article/world/haitians-say-underaged-girls-were-abused-by-un-peacekeepers-idUSKBN1YM27V/https://insightcrime.org/haiti-organized-crime-news/jimmy-cherizier-alias-barbecue/https://minujusth.unmissions.org/la-minujusth-condamne-les-violences-commis-%C3%A0-grand-ravine-et-appelle-les-autorit%C3%A9s-nationales-%C3%A0https://haitiantimes.com/2018/11/14/a-u-n-backed-police-force-carried-out-a-massacre-in-haiti-the-killings-have-been-almost