gang

The Haitian government is currently in hiatus and conflict due to the emergence of a militant group claiming to be associated with the country's most powerful individual, the President. A group of fugitives who referred to themselves as "The Police" recently publicly claimed to have a connection with Haitian President Michel Martelly's political party. They have transformed themselves as the paramilitary force of Les Cayes' police department and are currently well-armed.

Les Cayes' government commissioner, Jean-Marie Salomon, announced that he has information on the identity of the group's members, mostly with criminal backgrounds and some having escaped from prison. With all the fuss on The Police's claim of being part of a strong political party, the Commissioner declined in confirming the group's political affiliation. This has worried the National Network for the Defense of Human Rights (RNDDH), especially in terms of the safety and security of Haiti's southern department. RNDDH's Executive Director Pierre Espérance believes that The Police belonged to Martelly's Tet Kale Party and was supposedly formed by Haiti's Minister of Justice Jean Renel Sanon in order to commit repression in the country.

Read more →  

François Emmanuel "Toto" Constant, born in 1956, started FRAPH (Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haiti), a death squad in mid-1993, at the request of U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency officer, Col. Patrick Collins, after President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, unable to take office, had been exiled to South Africa. The intent of FRAPH was to gather intelligence to infiltrate and destroy the Aristide pro-democracy movement, terrorizing Aristide loyalists in the process.

In October 1993, Emmanuel assumed a major role in world affairs, when he and his FRAPH goons rioted at the Port-au-Prince port, as the USS Harlan, with a contingent of 200 soldiers and President Aristide aboard, attempted to dock at the pier. The USS Harlan was unable to deliver Aristide back to his country to rule, forestalling U.S. efforts to put Aristide back into power. Or so it seemed.

Read more →  

Amiot Metayer was a controversial Haitian gang leader whose operations were based in the city of Gonaives, in the Artibonite region of Haiti. He was the leader of the Cannibal Army, a rebel group which wreaked havoc among many. Metayer formed the group in the 1980s to oppose the young Duvalier, who, like his father, shamelessly continued to dictate his ways over the people, with constant crushing of anyone who tried to oppose him.

Amiot supported the military regime from 1991 to 1994 together with his gang. He also supported President Aristide during his second term, until July 2002 when he was jailed for arson. His stay in the Gonaives prison was short lived, for mass protests emerged following his condemnation. His gang broke him out in August 2002. He depicted some resistance to the government of the day, before switching sides and alleging his loyalty to the president.

Read more →  

Little was known about Buteur Metayer prior to the assassination of his brother, Amiot Metayer in September 2003. It is said that he came to Haiti from the United States with the objective of avenging the death of Amiot. Bateur took over the operations of the Cannibal Army, a rebel group which his brother had founded in the 1980s to resist the dictatorial rule of Duvalier.

Buteur Metayer then renamed the army, giving it the name Artibonite Resistance Front, which he used to fight off President Aristide's policemen. He was very significant in the hostile takeovers of Gonaives and other towns as his group demanded for the immediate resignation of Aristide for corruption and for siphoning money from the poor.

Read more →  

Known as Jean Tatoune, Jean Pierre Baptiste is one of the few Haitians who have made a name for himself for openly showing his contempt for two Haitian presidents and making significant contributions towards their ousting from the throne of power. He first came into the limelight in 1985 when he courageously organized demonstrations against the corrupt and dictatorial rule that was the landmark of the Duvalier rule. The city of Gonaives was the base of his operations and he was greatly loved if not respected.

After the Duvalier rule came to an end, Aristide took over. Jean Pierre Baptiste (alias Jean Tatoune) did not spare him either; he led a strong revolt in 1994 that was dubbed the Raboteau massacre after 15 to 25 people were killed in cold blood. This action led to a trial in 2000, after which he was convicted and imprisoned in his hometown of Gonaives.

Read more →