Haitian activist describes grisly killings in the streets as residents rise up against gangs

Warning: This story contains violent imagery.

Vélina Élysée Charlier says the streets of her hometown have become a living hell.

Charlier is a human rights activist in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, where armed gangs have steadily gained power since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021. The United Nations has compared the situation to a war, and roughly last week that gangs control 80 percent of the city.

But in recent months, residents have fought back. In a bloody reprisal last Monday, a mob of vigilantes killed more than a dozen suspected gang members, took them from a police minibus, beat them, and burned their bodies with gasoline-soaked tires in the Canapé-Vert neighborhood of the city, according to The Associated Press.

The following day, residents of the nearby Turgeau area armed themselves with rocks, bottles and machetes and fought gang members who were reportedly trying to seize control of the neighborhood.

Charlier works for Turgeau and has seen some violence. This is part of the conversation with him As it happens hosted by Nil Koksal.

How did local residents react last week when gang members tried to move into the Turgeau neighborhood in Port-au-Prince?

Members of the gang, they came to Debussy, which is in the mountains above the Turgeau area in Port-au-Prince.

And for the very first time, the population did not have it…. They started taking it back. Whoever has a gun and enough ammunition, they start shooting at the gang.

And then the inhabitants came out with machetes, rocks or wooden sticks – whatever they could find to fight again…. They started chasing all the bandits and gang members down the mountain in every area where they went to hide.

And very quickly, well, what happened was that the police came to support the population.

People have been living in difficult conditions for a long time. At what point do you think people want to deal with these issues in a drastic way?

Many neighborhoods have fought back, and the brigade has organized itself in various neighborhoods… that’s why the residents have quietly organized themselves. And I think what makes the difference is the fact that the police are also showing up for the public, which is a huge development, and one of the few moments that we’ve seen. [the] the population is going hand-in-hand with the police to fight back against the bandits.

The alleged gang members, didn’t they see this coming?

They did not see this coming. And also, for those who know Haiti, Turgeau, Debussy, it is a very difficult hillside. If you don’t know the area, it’s easy to get lost. So we assume that the gang members, the bandits who come, don’t know the landscape. So it is very easy for residents to track.

We saw a lot of violence. You know, they killed and burned them on the spot …. So because of the very violent reaction, the gang members began to worry for their lives and disappeared in the hills.

And you are witnessing many firsts.

So it all happened on Monday [April 24]. And on Tuesday, there were still … people wandering around and chasing the bandits. And I witnessed a lot. I saw … a motorcyclist went with them and then he was killed on the road, set on fire. I mean, it’s nightmarish and very, very difficult.

You’ve described it as “hell” in other interviews, and that certainly sounds like an appropriate description.

It was hell. I mean, we’ve had this for years. But since last week, I think that if anyone wants a definition of hell, they can come and experience it in Haiti.

How are you? How do you handle all of this?

I am a human rights activist, so witnessing all this was very difficult for me. But at the same time, I am Haitian. I am a mother of four girls. I have seen a lot of violence. I am a feminist. I have spoken to women who have been gang-raped. So it puts you in a place where you really have to stay together to know what’s right from what’s wrong.

Because you have a lot of anger. And I was very angry. And, to tell the truth, I want to [the gang members] dead. Because I think if he doesn’t die, we all die. And I think it’s unfair that only a few gangs are … killing millions of people completely, with impunity.

But at the same time, I know that the path we have taken is not the right path, because it is not the path to justice. But this is the result of years of violence against a population that doesn’t have everything and is just tired. If you live in Haiti, you can consider yourself dead. So we might as well die fighting, you know?

So how do I feel? I don’t know. I’m just in a very dark place.

WATCH | Haiti flees gang violence:

Where do you think it will be next?

Yes, we see more and more action from the police. But at the same time, it doesn’t seem as if the de facto government has a clear security plan.

So I think the violence will continue to escalate, and it will turn into blood and ashes.

What do you make of what Canada and the United States have said and said so far — you know, not sending troops directly, but aid?

My opinion on sending foreign intervention is always very clear. Historically, foreign intervention in Haiti has never served Haiti’s best interests. It is, as I said in other media [interview]put a Band-Aid on cancer.

I think we need help. I think we need cooperation. But we need help in the sense of building the police, building the army, so that Haiti can provide security for its own population.

What you said earlier about the police finally coming to help the population and that’s very rare, as you explained. You know, it’s one thing for them to help now, but under normal circumstances, the police will try to kill the violence that also … and try to ensure vigilantism does not continue.

Exactly. Then I have also seen, and witnessed many human rights violations by the police. I mean, the police, they ask you, and if you’re nervous, they’ll kill you. I have seen a lot of police just decide whether you have the right to live or if you die on the spot just because you are called a gang member.

And that’s a very difficult conversation to have in Haiti today, because the population is so angry that if you talk about human rights, you’re going to look like you’re defending a gang.

The police too [are] tired. And the police too [are] seeking revenge for the many police officers killed – and brutally murdered – by gangs. So it’s a very complicated situation.

What made you stay in Haiti, you and your children?

I’m home. I will not leave my home just because some man has decided to turn it into hell. This is my house and I am staying.

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With files from The Associated Press. Interview produced by Chris Harbord. Q&A edited for length and clarity.