The United Nations Security Council is expected to vote Wednesday afternoon on a resolution that would demand an immediate end to violence and criminal activity in Haiti and impose sanctions on influential gang leader Jimmy Cherizier, nicknamed “Barbecue.”
The resolution would also impose sanctions on other Haitian individuals and groups who engage in actions that threaten the peace, security or stability of the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country, according to the final draft obtained by The Associated Press.
Council diplomats said the 10-page draft resolution was put “in blue” – a final form that can be voted on – late Tuesday with a vote to be held Wednesday afternoon. They spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of an official announcement.
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Daily life in Haiti began to spin out of control last month just hours after Prime Minister Ariel Henry said fuel subsidies would be eliminated, causing prices to double. Gangs blocked the entrance to the Varreux fuel terminal, leading to a severe shortage of fuel at a time when clean water is also scarce and the country is trying to deal with a deadly cholera outbreak.
The resolution drafted by the United States and Mexico only singles out Cherizier, a former police officer who leads an alliance of Haitian gangs known as the “G9 Family and Allies,” as a target for a travel ban, asset freeze and arms embargo. But it would establish a Security Council committee to designate other Haitians and groups to be put on a sanctions blacklist.
“Cherizier and his G9 gang confederation are actively blocking the free movement of fuel from the Varreux fuel terminal – the largest in Haiti,” the draft says. “His actions have directly contributed to the economic paralysis and humanitarian crisis in Haiti.”
Cherizier also “has engaged in acts that threaten the peace, security, and stability of Haiti and has planned, directed, or committed acts that constitute serious human rights abuses,” the draft resolution says.
While serving in the police, it says, he planned and participated in a deadly attack in November 2018 in the capital’s La Saline neighborhood where at least 71 people were killed, over 400 houses destroyed, and at least seven women raped by armed gangs.
وفي مقطع فيديو نُشر على فيسبوك الأسبوع الماضي ، دعت شيريزير الحكومة لمنحه وأعضاء مجموعة التسعة عفوًا وإلغاء جميع أوامر الاعتقال الصادرة بحقهم. قال في الكريول إن الوضع الاقتصادي والاجتماعي في هايتي يزداد سوءًا يومًا بعد يوم ، لذلك "ليس هناك وقت أفضل من اليوم لتفكيك النظام".
ووضع الخطوط العريضة لخطة انتقالية لاستعادة النظام في هايتي. وسيشمل إنشاء مجلس الحكماء مع ممثل واحد من كل مقاطعة من مقاطعات هايتي العشر لحكم البلاد مع رئيس مؤقت حتى يمكن إجراء انتخابات رئاسية في فبراير 2024. كما يدعو إلى إعادة هيكلة الشرطة الوطنية في هايتي وتعزيز الجيش.