Security: The UN votes for a global embargo on all arms to Haiti

The UN Security Council voted on Friday for a global embargo on all arms and military equipment destined for Haiti, a poor Caribbean country controlled by armed gangs.

Unanimously by the 15 members, the Council adopted resolution 2752 (2024) which requires “all Member States (of the United Nations) to take the necessary measures to prevent the direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer to destination of Haiti, from or via their territories or by their nationals (…) of all types of weapons, including weapons, ammunition, vehicles and military and paramilitary equipment.

The text, written by Ecuador and the United States, also renews for one year the mandate of a committee of experts which has been monitoring the sanctions taken against Haiti for two years.

“Unspeakable brutality”

In October 2022, the Security Council established a sanctions regime (travel ban, asset freeze, targeted arms embargo), but which then only targeted a single gang leader, Jimmy Chérizier, known as “ Barbecue”.

The list now includes seven bosses of these formidable armed bands, including two added in September. These powerful gangs control 80% of the capital Port-au-Prince and major roads in the country and are ravaging the country. In October 2023, the Council imposed a general embargo on small arms and ammunition.

But in April, the commissioned experts judged the impact of the sanctions “extremely limited” and the application of the embargo “mediocre”. At the beginning of October, a gang attack, of “unspeakable brutality” according to the Haitian government, against the town of Pont-Sondé left at least 109 dead and more than forty injured.

Multinational force

A multinational force led by Kenya, in support of security in Haiti, began deploying this summer in this Caribbean country ravaged by armed violence and facing for years a serious humanitarian, economic and political crisis.

Six hundred additional police officers promised by Nairobi must be deployed in November while at least 3,661 people have died since January, according to a report from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights dating from the end of September.

“The situation is still terrible and the United States remains deeply concerned about the security and humanitarian crises,” their deputy ambassador, Dorothy Shea, spoke to the Security Council.

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AFP

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