Deadly clashes between rival gangs in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area, caused by a reconfiguration of gang alliances and territorial disputes, have multiplied in recent weeks, with a significant upsurge since 1 June fuelling a widespread sense of insecurity and creating dramatic consequences for the civilian population. An estimated 10,000 civilians in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince have been displaced since June 1 in addition to nearly 4,000 who were previously displaced. 4.4 million people are food insecure. National police presence in these neighbourhoods is currently not in a position to provide the necessary security and protection to civilians, leaving vulnerable populations to fend for themselves. The police themselves are the target of gangs, who stormed eight police stations and killed eight policemen during the first week of June, taking weapons and police equipment such as bullet-proof vests and radios.

Deadly clashes between rival gangs in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area seeking to exert control over populous areas have surged in recent weeks, with a significant upsurge since 1 June, fuelling a widespread sense of insecurity and creating dramatic consequences for the civilian population. These incidents have resulted in numerous deaths and injuries in these neighbourhoods, as well as several fires. People are fleeing to safer areas and many, including children, are sleeping outside on the ground. Most of the displaced are settling in informal sites and need shelter, food, water, clothing and other non-food items. Based on currently available data, at least 1,000 people have been reportedly displaced over the last 72 hours only due to serious security incidents, particularly in Martissant, Cité-Soleil and Bel Air. This surge in displacement comes in addition to over 4,000 displaced in the last 12 months due to similar incidents.

The Global Justice Clinic, the International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School, and the Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic at Yale Law School issued a statement on June 8, 2021, calling on the U.S. government to heed civil society’s demand and cancel the planned constitutional referendum in Haiti.  The referendum, which will ask Haitian people to vote “yes” or “no” on a new Constitution, is illegal.  It is the most recent, bold effort by President Jovenel Moïse to consolidate power and comes on the heels of dozens of presidential decrees that undermine checks on the executive. Haitian civil society has widely denounced the referendum, noting its illegality and emphasizing the impossibility of holding a vote under the current administration.  International actors are increasingly recognizing the illegitimacy of the referendum, and the danger to democracy that it poses.  However, continued technical support and provision of aid to the government of Haiti to hold elections means that international actors, including the United States government, are tacitly supporting the unconstitutional vote.  With long experience working in solidarity with Haitian civil society, and building off our February statement, the clinics urge the U.S. government to urgently and publicly call to cancel the referendum.

The National Human Rights Defense Network (RNDDH) has investigated the various armed attacks recorded in Bel-Air and Cité Soleil since the end of 2020. The information gathered during these various investigations is used for the preparation of this report through which the RNDDH shares its findings, comments, and recommendations with those interested in the issue.

The document is divided into 9 points which review in particular the balance sheet of attacks recorded at Bel-Air from August 2020 to May 2021, the balance sheet of attacks recorded at Cité Soleil from January to May 2021, police interventions and interviews with judicial authorities.

Le pays vit depuis au moins trois ans une crise multidimensionnelle, avec des conséquences économiques, sociales et politiques désastreuses. Le cadre de vie s’est considérablement dégradé, poussant haïtiennes et haïtiens à quitter le pays en quête d’une vie décente. Cet exode n’est pa le fruit du hasard ou la conséquence d’une catastrophe naturelle mais l’aboutissement d’une gouvernance désastreuse. À partir du 2018, les secteurs les plus divers de la société se sont prononcés contre cette dégradation accélérée. Les formules politiques se sont succédées, ainsi que les manifestations citoyennes et les mobilisations populaires, sans arriver à déclencher le changement auquel aspirent de larges majorités privées de services et de leurs droits les plus élémentaires.

The country has been undergoing a multidimensional crisis for at least three years, with disastrous economic, social and political implications. The living conditions have deteriorated significantly, prompting Haitians to leave the country in search of a decent life. This exodus is not accidental nor the consequence of a natural disaster, but the outcome of disastrous governance. Starting from 2018, the most diverse sectors of society have spoken out against this escalating degradation. Political formulas have succeeded one another, as well as civic demonstrations and popular mobilizations, without being able to trigger the change to which vast majorities ‒ deprived of services and their most basic rights ‒ aspire.