UN expands arms embargo on Haiti to all types of arms and ammunition
Published:Friday | October 18, 2024 | 8:30 PM
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations Security Council voted unanimously Friday to expand the arms embargo in Haiti to all types of weapons and ammunition, expressing grave concern at the extremely high levels of gang violence and criminal activities in the impoverished Caribbean nation.
The resolution authorises the 193 UN member nations to take “appropriate steps to prevent the illicit trafficking and diversion of arms and related material in Haiti.”
UN experts have said increasingly sophisticated weapons that end up in the hands of gang members and criminals are being trafficked from the U.S., especially from Florida.
The resolution also extends a travel ban and asset freeze on individuals on the UN sanctions blacklist for a year. In late September, the council committee monitoring sanctions on Haiti added two people to the list, which included five gang leaders.
One was Elan Luckson, leader of the Gran Grif gang, which killed at least 115 people in the town of Pont-Sondé in the Artibonite region next to the capital in early October in one of the biggest massacres in Haiti in recent history. The other was Victor Prophane, a former member of the Haitian parliament accused of being involved in arms trafficking.
The power of gangs in Haiti has grown since the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, and they are now estimated to control up to 80% of the capital, Port-au-Prince. They also have moved into surrounding areas.
The surge in killings, rapes and kidnappings has led to a violent uprising by civilian vigilante groups.
The Security Council voted unanimously in early October to extend the mandate of the Kenya-led multinational force trying to help the Haitian National Police quell the gangs.
The leaders of Kenya and Haiti last week urged international partners to honour their commitment to the UN-backed force in Haiti, saying the mission needs more resources and that its budget will run out in March 2025.
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