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UN demands end to violence in Haiti, sanctions gang leader

Published:Friday | October 21, 2022 | 4:07 PM
Barbecue, whose real name is Jimmy Cherizier, sits at his house during an interview with AP, in Lower Delmas, a district of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, May 24, 2019. The UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution Friday, October 21, 2022, demanding an immediate end to violence and criminal activity in Haiti and imposing sanctions on Barbecue, a powerful gang leader. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery, File)

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution Friday demanding an immediate end to violence and criminal activity in Haiti and imposing sanctions on individuals and groups threatening peace and stability in the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation — starting with a powerful gang leader.

The sanctions were the first authorised by the UN's most powerful body since 2017 and the resolution's approval by all 15 council nations, whose divisions have been exacerbated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, demonstrated a rare sign that council members can work together -- at least on some global crises.

“We are sending a clear message to the bad actors that are holding Haiti hostage,” US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said after the resolution's approval.

“The international community will not stand idly by while you wreak havoc on the Haitian people.”

Mexico's UN Ambassador Juan Ramon De La Fuente Ramirez praised the council's unity on a complex issue.

“In this crisis, the Security Council has given a clear signal that violence has to stop and it cannot go unpunished.”

The United States and Mexico, which drafted the 10-page resolution, had delayed the vote from Wednesday so they could revise the text to gain more support.

The US ambassador said the resolution was an important first step by the Security Council to help Haitians who want action against criminals, including gangs and their financiers.

Political instability has simmered in Haiti since last year's still-unsolved assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, who had faced protests calling for his resignation over corruption charges and claims that his five-year term had expired.

Moïse dissolved Parliament in January 2020 after legislators failed to hold elections in 2019 amid political gridlock.

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