Bwa Kale: The Vigilante Movement Taking on Haitian Gangs

Bwa kale, the “self-defense movement” that attacks Haitian gangs
The 14 arrested suspected gang members were arriving at a police station in the Haitian capital when a group of people ousted the police, rounded up the suspects and burned them alive with gasoline.

The grisly executions of April 24 marked the start of a brutal vigilante campaign aimed at reclaiming the streets of the capital, Port-au-Prince, from the gangs that have terrorized Haitians for nearly two years.

According to data compiled in a report by a Haitian human rights group, civilians have killed at least 160 people believed to be gang members since the movement known as “bwa kale” launched. his self-defense campaign with the brazen attack on the police station.

The result: a sharp drop in kidnappings and murders attributed to gangs in neighborhoods where people told the New York Times they were afraid to leave their homes.

“Before the 24th, every day, someone came to ask me to give him money for my small business,” said Marie, 62, who sells shoes in the streets of Port-au-Prince. The Times is withholding his full name or that of other residents for security reasons.

But a fortnight ago, members of the “bwa kale” burned alive a man believed to be a member of the gang in front of his shoe display.

Although she sees the revenge movement as “God beginning to put things right”, Marie has her doubts. “He could have been punished differently,” she said. “He could have been arrested and imprisoned.

The outbreak of mob justice is worrying, say experts in Haiti, because it could easily be used to attack other people and could lead to an even worse outbreak of violence if the gangs seek revenge.

The fact that it took a vigilante movement to bring some semblance of calm to parts of Port-au-Prince underscores the chaos engulfing a country where large numbers of underpaid and overwhelmed police have fled. Almost two years ago, the last elected president, Jovenel Moïse, was assassinated and replaced by an interim prime minister deemed inept. No election has been held since, and this Caribbean country of 11 million people has no more elected officials.

Ariel Henry, the acting prime minister, last year called for outside intervention, but efforts by the United States and others to put together an international contingent have stalled, largely because that no country wants to take the lead.

Gangs have long controlled Haiti’s poorest neighborhoods, but violence increased after the assassination of Moïse. They fought for control of parts of Port-au-Prince through random murders, rapes and kidnappings. Last July, 470 murders were recorded over a nine-day period, according to the United Nations. The violence prevented residents from working, prompting many to leave for the United States.

“People were living like rats who only came out of their holes to eat,” said Arnold Antonin, an 80-year-old Haitian filmmaker who fled to the Dominican Republic last year when his wife, Béatrice Larghi, was kidnapped and that gangs have taken control of their neighborhood south of the capital. “Gangs were like cats,” he said. (His wife was released safe and sound after a ransom was paid).

“The reaction of the population, after years during which the gangs imposed their rule, can be attributed to self-defense,” said Gédéon Jean, executive director of the Center for Analysis and Research on Human Rights. (CARDH). In May, 43 killings were recorded, mostly in Port-au-Prince, compared to 146 in April, Jean said, adding that there were virtually no kidnappings.

But the gangs remain powerful and control certain neighborhoods and roads, said Pierre Espérance, executive director of the National Network for the Defense of Human Rights. “I won’t say that I support the bwa kale, but I will say that I understand the population, because there is a lot of impunity and a lack of authorities, and they have no other choice.

Amanda, 29, says she had to leave her home in the La Grotte neighborhood of Port-au-Prince before dawn one morning in April when gangs came to her street. Vigilante groups then killed some gang members, but did not guarantee that they were targeting the right people. Today, they man checkpoints and keep foreigners away by checking their identity papers.

“I support vigilante groups,” she said. “When I pass a checkpoint, I agree to be checked.