UN Targets Imposing Sanctions Against Notorious Haiti Gang Leader

Gang violence has taken over much of Haiti and forced many to flee the country. Now, the United Nations (UN) is negotiating a resolution to impose sanctions on one of the country's most notorious gang leaders.

The United States drafted the resolution, targeting the notorious gang leader Jimmy Cherizier, also known as "Barbeque," and other Haitian individuals and groups who "engage in actions that threaten the peace, security or stability" of Haiti.

The Associated Press obtained a text of that resolution on Thursday that sanctioned Cherizier, a former police officer who now leads an alliance of gangs around Haiti known as the "G9 Family and Allies."

However, it will also create a Security Council committee, which would blacklist other Haitian groups and impose sanctions on them. So far, Cherizier's sanctions include an arms embargo, an asset freeze, and a travel ban.

Last week, Haiti's Prime Minister Ariel Henry, with 18 high-ranking officials, asked the UN for the "immediate deployment of a specialized armed force" in Haiti to stop the criminal gangs in their rampage across the Caribbean nation.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had already sent a letter to the Security Council last Sunday, calling for the deployment of a rapid action force to help Haiti's National Police.

UN Security Council Meeting on Haiti Moved Due to Increasing Unrest

Gangs have slowly taken over Haiti, with conflicts occurring between rivals and the overwhelmed police force. The situation worsened when Ariel Henry stopped fuel subsidies, forcing fuel prices to double.

Cherizier and his G9 gang confederation managed to block the Varreux fuel terminal, causing a fuel shortage. According to the draft resolution, the gang leader directly contributed to the current humanitarian crisis in Haiti because of his actions.

Haiti's increasingly dire situation has forced the UN Security Council to move up a meeting on Haiti to Monday.

G9 Gang Leader in Haiti Remains Defiant

"Barbeque" has remained defiant. He posted a video on Facebook and demanded the Haitian government to grant him and other G9 members amnesty and void all arrest warrants against them.

Cherizier said in Creole that with Haiti's worsening socio-economic situation, "there is no better time than today to dismantle the system."

He also proposed a transitional plan to restore order in the country that will include a Council of Sages and an interim president until a presidential election could be held in February.

Cherizier also called for the restructuring of Haiti's National Police, which he was previously a part of and the strengthening of the military.

In his Facebook statement, he noted that "the country is (facing) one crisis after another." He added that the first victim of all these crises "is the population, the people in the ghettos, the peasants."

According to Al Jazeera, the gang leader blocked the entrance to Varreux to protest against the prime minister's decision to cut fuel subsidies.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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