UNITED NATIONS — The UN Security Council voted unanimously on Friday to extend the arms embargo Haiti against all types of weapons and ammunition, expressing our grave concern at the extremes high levels of gang violence and criminal activities in the impoverished Caribbean country.
The resolution authorizes the 193 UN member states to “take appropriate steps to prevent the illicit trafficking and diversion of arms and related materials in Haiti.” UN experts have said that more and more sophisticated weapons are ending up in the hands of gang members and criminals are traded from the USespecially from Florida.
The resolution also extends the travel ban and asset freeze for people on the UN sanctions blacklist for one year. In late September, the council committee overseeing sanctions against Haiti added two people to the list, including five gang leaders.
One of these was Elan Luckson, leader of the Gran Grif gangkilling at least 115 people in early October in the town of Pont-Sondé in the Artibonite region next to the capital in one of Haiti’s largest massacres in recent history. The other was Victor Prophane, a former member of the Haitian parliament accused of involvement in arms trafficking.
The power of gangs in Haiti has grown since 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïseand it is estimated that they now control up to 80% of the capital, Port-au-Prince. They have also moved to surrounding areas.
The increase in murders, rapes and kidnappings has led to a violent uprising by vigilante groups.
The Security Council voted unanimously in early October to extend the mandate of the Kenyan-led multinational force trying to help the Haitian National Police suppress the gangs.
The leaders of Kenya and Haiti last week urged international partners to honor their pledges deployment to the UN-backed force in Haitisaying the mission needs more resources and will run out of budget by March 2025.
Kenyan President William Ruto, who met with Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille in Nairobi a week ago, said Kenya would deploy 600 additional officers next month, in addition to the 400 officers already in the country.
Nearly two dozen police officers and soldiers from Jamaica are also in Haiti, but that number falls significantly short of the 2,500 pledged to the mission by several countries, including Chad, Benin, Bangladesh and Barbados.
The council resolution adopted Friday, co-sponsored by Ecuador and the United States, also encourages the Haitian government to strengthen the management of police weapons, ammunition and seized weapons and “strengthen border and customs control to prevent illicit trafficking and curb distractions. ”
It extends the panel of experts that monitors the implementation of the sanctions by thirteen months.
Ecuador’s political coordinator, Irina Barba Bustos, told the council after the vote that sanctions are part of the comprehensive response essential to address the crisis in Haiti and promote a political solution and a peaceful and prosperous future for its people .
The arms embargo previously applied to ‘small arms, light weapons and ammunition’. The resolution expands it to include “weapons and related equipment of all kinds.”
Bustos said the extension of the arms embargo “strengthens our efforts to combat transnational organized crime, which uses all forms of violence against the civilian population, especially women.”