MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th May, 2022) The Haitian government has asked Washington to lift an arms embargo to help law enforcement deal with local gangs as the issue escalates, the Metropole radio reported on Wednesday.
Military support is needed to deal with the gangs, prompting the Haitian government to call on the Pentagon to lift the arms embargo that the US has imposed on the country so that it can purchase equipment for law enforcement and for the armed forces, the radio reported, citing Ambassador to the US Bocchit Edmond.
According to human rights activists, over 1,000 people were kidnapped in Haiti in 2021, and more than 200 in January-April this year. The recent kidnappings have taken place due to the clashes between local gangs that control peripheral areas of the capital, causing residents of those areas to flee their homes. At least 20 civilians have died as a result of the clashes since last week.
In 1991, the US suspended all licenses and approvals for military exports to Haiti after a democratically elected government was overthrown. In 1993, the UN Security Council imposed an arms embargo on Haiti. Since then, there has been a partial lifting of the embargo, but the restrictions have not been fully suspended.
