Self-defense groups continue to emerge in a Haiti overwhelmed by violence

Artibonite (Haiti).- According to the United Nations (UN), at least 20 criminal groups, including gangs and self-defense groups, operate in the Artibonite department, which continue to emerge in a Haiti overwhelmed by violence. Between September 4th and 5th, more than fifteen alleged members of the Gran Grif gang were killed in the Haitian town of Liancourt, a "success" claimed by the Haitian National Police in which self-defense forces in the area allegedly played a decisive role. Liancourt is located about 115 kilometers north of Port-au-Prince, in the Artibonite department, one of the three most populated in the country and facing an unsustainable security situation within the framework of the crisis unleashed by gangs in the country, where 4,026 people were murdered between January and June last year, 24% more than in the same period of 2024.

The United Nations have pointed out that self-defense groups are described as a community response to gang attacks, but the facts show that both actors act with extreme brutality against the population.

Despite all the criticisms leveled at the self-defense forces of Liancourt, all the hope of the population of this municipality rests on their shoulders, according to its inhabitants.

Symbiosis of the Police and Self-Defense Groups

It is in this context that the self-defense group 'Resistance' emerged weeks ago, whose objective is to "do everything possible to collaborate with the Haitian National Police" to prevent the fearsome Gran Grif gang, led by Lucson Elan, from "taking control of the police station" of the locality. This is how a man in his early 20s, who identifies himself as a member of these brigades, explains it to EFE, while standing in front of the Liancourt police station wearing a yellow t-shirt and a black scarf covering his head, face, and neck, leaving only his eyes uncovered.

"We lack combat material, but with the scarce means at our disposal, we are holding out until now. In order to stop the advance of the armed gangs, it would be necessary to have sufficient personnel and the necessary material," he assures.

The self-defense groups claim to have weapons, including rifles recovered in clashes with gangs, as well as machetes and knives. In Liancourt, the young people of the 'Resistance' are active every day and at any time of day and night, occupying all the intersections that the gangs could use to enter new areas.

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According to them, they are in charge of maintaining the Liancourt police station, and they even feed the police officers, who in return would allow them to use the institution's weaponry. The Haitian National Police does not recognize the existence of these self-defense groups and much less any association with them. The institution only affirms that it works in collaboration with the population to combat the armed gangs that sow death and destruction in the country.

In Artibonite, bullets replace rice fields

Artibonite is one of Haiti's main agricultural regions, known for its rice fields. But farmers and landowners, victims of crop and livestock theft, extortion, and destruction of irrigation canals, are fleeing en masse from their villages to take refuge in the urban centers of the region, which impacts the country's rice production. During the 2015 legislative elections, new armed groups emerged there, driven by candidates who wanted to win the elections with their help. In fact, according to the UN, it was between 2015 and 2017 when gangs like Gran Grif emerged. To deal with this armed violence, self-defense groups emerged in the region. Almost all municipalities, and even all localities, have one. According to a report published in November 2023 by the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) on the security situation in Lower Artibonite, at least 20 criminal groups, including gangs and self-defense groups, operate in this region. Between April 1 and June 30, 2025, at least 1,520 people died and 609 were injured in the context of violence by gangs, self-defense groups, and unorganized members of the population, as well as operations by security forces, according to the latest BINUH report. At least 16% of these incidents occurred in the Artibonite department, and 77% in the metropolitan region of Port-au-Prince, controlled by gangs in at least 85%.