(Reuters) – Haiti’s Center for Human Rights Analysis and Research (CARDH) is temporarily stopping its activities due to immediate danger to its staff, according to its executive director on Thursday. This decision comes as gang violence intensifies in certain parts of the capital Port-au-Prince.
Gedeon Jean, who leads the 16-person team, mentioned that a colleague who was kidnapped on Oct. 29 and released on Nov. 17 had warned that the organization was being targeted by the group that had kidnapped him. The organization’s work was described as “disturbing” to certain sectors.
“He confirmed I am being directly targeted by the kidnappers,” said Jean.
“CARDH’s reports and analyses have demonstrated the close connections between crime, politics, and the economy in Haiti, shedding light on the real ‘masters’ of the crime industry, who are not the leaders of gangs.”
The United States and Canada have imposed sanctions on several politicians and businessmen accused of helping finance gangs.
CARDH has issued reports on the living conditions of people who have been displaced by gang wars, suspected gang members who have been lynched by vigilante “Bwa Kale” groups, killings of police officers, and assessments of foreign sanctions.
The organization has also quantified the escalation of what it refers to as a kidnapping “industry”, in which gangs utilize extreme violence and torture to extract ransoms from families.
Up until September of this year, CARDH has recorded 901 kidnappings, as well as 1,564 murders and a rise in mass kidnappings in the Bas-Artibonite region north of the capital. It has warned that this region could turn into a major gang hub if measures are not implemented.
Following the killing of a prominent gang leader, which sparked further violence in Cite Soleil earlier this month, the United Nations estimated that over 146,500 people had been displaced in the West Department alone, the majority of them in the metropolitan area of the capital.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, CARDH stated that it had been reducing its activities for months, and with threats now being carried out, it is putting its operations on hold and waiting for security measures to be taken so that it can resume its work.
(Reporting by Sarah Morland in Mexico City and Harold Isaac in Port-au-Prince; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
