Canada is one of those upset as Haiti turns to deadly drones to fight gangs
Haiti’s fight against criminal gangs tends toward deadly use of drones this year, with senior officials defending strategies that some external parties, including the Canadian government, agree.
The embattled Caribbean state has been working to expel what senior UN officials say is a powerful armed gang that has “close to statistical control” on the capital’s ports.
However, the gang’s scope is beyond the capital, with violence in central Haiti, with police officers and two civilians killed on this week.
The Haitian National Police (HNP) is a player in the removal of these gangs, and the country has also gained some support from a non-supported mission led by the Kenyan Police Department.
But the state also wants drones to monitor gangs and strike.
The strikes were led by a government-created task force and supported by private contractors, which attracted media attention for months, including when renowned gang leader Jimmy “BBQ” Chérizier said he survived a strike involving a blast of drones.
“The population has reached here, and the government can not only sit down and watch,” Fritz Alphonse Jean Jean, chairman of the Haiti Transitional Presidential Committee, told the Financial Times earlier this month.
However, some observers believe that even if Haiti is under pressure to face those opponents, it will use drones to fight back against the use of gangs.
“Under international human rights law, it is legal to use deadly force intentionally by law enforcement agencies, and only life is strictly and inevitably protected [when] Facing imminent threats and the last measure to be the last alternative, such as capture or non-fatal incapacity,” William O’Neill, a UN-appointed Haitian human rights expert, recently told the Economist.
Canada has donated unmanned drones
This raises the problem of Canada providing UAVs to Haiti – though not the type designed for lethal use, according to the federal government.
“Canada has donated surveillance drones to the Haitian National Police in a statement to help reduce the dangers faced by uniformed officials while patrolling,” Canada Global Affairs told CBC News in a statement.
“None of the drone models offered in Canada are designed or intended to be fatally used or loaded for transportation.”
That is, Canada “has concern about reports of extrajudicial executions, which is a violation of international human rights law and continues to call on Haiti to respect all domestic and international laws to restore security in the country, including the use of drones.”
Canada Global Affairs has not clarified whether Ottawa is clearly aware of the fatal purpose of the drone provided by Canada in Haiti.
But it said Haiti had agreed that the equipment provided would not “belief or promote any violation of international humanitarian law or international human rights law”.
Diego da Rin, a Haitian analyst with global think tank International Crisis Group, said HNPs need these tools for surveillance, especially because gangs use them for the same purpose.
“Several gangs have been using drones to collect intelligence to operate,” he said in a telephone interview, noting that these gangs are not using strike drones.
this Réseau National de droits droits humansA local human rights group said in June it believed the state’s drone strike killed at least 300 gang members and injured 400 people.
CBC News asked Haiti if the United Nations Integrated Office is concerned about the use of UAVs by Haitian forces against gangs in the country.
“About the lethal use of force by law enforcement agencies in operations should be carried out in relation to human rights and the principles of necessary, proportionality and preventive measures,” spokesman Mathias Gillmann said in an email.
Gilman said communication channels have been established with the HNP’s General Inspection Bureau, “through this case may involve human rights cases involving police officers to further investigate and adopt appropriate administrative and legal measures.”
Long-term instability
Haiti faces years of instability after President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated in July 2021.
Ariel Henry, who served as acting prime minister and led the Haitian government after Moyce was assassinated, resigned from the gang-driven turmoil, and his role broke out while he was abroad.
André François Giroux, Canada’s Ambassador to Haiti, discussed the growing gang violence in Caribbean countries and the role of Canada in helping restore stability.
After Henry left, the Transitional Council took power. The Council appointed Alix Didier Fils-Aimé as prime minister in November last year.
The government’s challenges in disrupting the gang were on display Wednesday as police unions asked officials to protect local officials more.
“The government has not brought any attention to the police. If they take this seriously, they will provide police and military with means and support to end insecurity,” the SPNH-17 coalition said. “Too many policemen fell.”
The Transitional Presidential Council said the government is mobilizing all the necessary resources to investigate the killings and respect the memories of those killed.
