Overview:
The Haitian Nationwide Police, via its deputy spokesperson, confirmed the arrest of former lawmaker Prophane Victor from Petite-Rivière de l’Artibonite. His arrest adopted a high-profile search of his residence in Pétion-Ville. Victor’s detention is a part of a broader investigation by the Central Directorate of the Judicial Police (DCPJ) that targets influential figures related to Haiti’s highly effective gangs. Magalie Habitant, a former director of the Nationwide Stable Waste Administration Service (SNGRS), was additionally apprehended on this operation.
PORT-AU-PRINCE —Former Deputy of Petite-Rivière within the Artibonite, Prophane Victor, was arrested on Jan. 12 by brokers of the Central Directorate of the Judicial Police (DCPJ). The arrest is a part of ongoing investigations concentrating on Haïti’s influential figures linked to gangs terrorizing the inhabitants, Haïtian Nationwide Police (PNH) spokesperson confirmed.
Deputy police spokesperson Lionel Lazarre confirmed the arrest, noting {that a} search was carried out at Victor’s residence in Vivy Mitchell, a neighborhood of Pétion-Ville. A video posted on PNH social media reveals PNH brokers looking the property for proof.
Victor’s detention follows the Jan. 9 arrest of Magalie Habitant, former director of the Nationwide Stable Waste Administration Service (SNGRS), additionally by the DCPJ in Pétion-Ville.
These high-profile arrests come amid mounting public considerations and calls for for accountability with gang violence claiming over 5,000 lives in 2024 and displacing greater than 700,000 folks. Haïtian authorities vow additional actions because the inhabitants awaits progress in curbing Haïti’s spiraling insecurity.
Victor’s identify has lengthy been related to allegations of fueling gang violence, arming legal teams, and financing their actions. Nonetheless, no formal prices have been introduced in opposition to him so far. At present in custody, Victor has already confronted worldwide sanctions. He’s amongst a handful of political figures, alongside recognized gang leaders like Jimmy “Barbeque” Cherizier, Johnson “Izo” André, René “Ti Lapli” Destina, and Wilson “Lanmò San Jou” Joseph, named on a United Nations sanctions list made public in 2022.
A path of accusations and sanctions
A United Nations Expert Group on Haiti’s report has linked Victor to the Gran Grif gang chief and escalating violence throughout the Artibonite communes together with L’Estère, Petite-Rivière de l’Artibonite, Liancourt, Gros-Morne, and Terre-Neuve. The report highlights using sexual and gender-based violence, significantly rape, as a technique of management allegedly by gangs instantly related to Victor.
Victor has confronted repeated accusations of collaborating with gangs within the nation, significantly in Savien, Artibonite. In 2019, a former gang chief, referred to as Odma, accused Victor of offering firearms and ammunition throughout his electoral marketing campaign. Victor denied the allegations, and Haitian authorities didn’t open an investigation.
Native experiences counsel Victor enlisted a police inspector to help Odma’s legal actions throughout his marketing campaign. Regardless of these accusations, no authorized proceedings have been initiated in opposition to him domestically.
Canada has additionally sanctioned Victor and former Artibonite Senator Gracia Delva, banning their entry and freezing property held in Canadian territories. These actions are a part of a broader marketing campaign led by Canada and the US to focus on Haitian officers and political figures accused of exacerbating insecurity within the nation.
In September 2024, the U.S. Division of the Treasury’s Workplace of International Property Management (OFAC) imposed sanctions on the previous Haitian deputy for his function in supporting and arming gangs within the Artibonite division. Gang chief Luckson Élan, head of the Gran Grif group, was additionally sanctioned. OFAC cited their actions as contributors to extreme Human Rights violations in Haïti.
Hyperlink to the arrest of one other controversial determine, Magalie Habitant
Victor’s arrest intently follows that of Habitant who’s accused of hyperlinks to the “Viv Ansanm” gang coalition. PNH arrested Habitant, a former director of the Nationwide Stable Waste Administration Service (SNGRS) alongside together with her driver, Jean Philippe Lener, and searched her dwelling. Since Jan. 9, she has been in DCPJ custody, beneath interrogation concerning alleged ties to gangs, in addition to accusations of mismanagement and embezzlement throughout her tenure at SNGRS in 2021.
Authorities point out that further arrests may observe based mostly on the interrogations of Victor and Habitant as they announce continued efforts to deal with the continuing insecurity fueled by gang actions in Haiti.