Haiti has become an ‘open air prison’ with ‘apocalyptic’ violence tearing up the streets three weeks on since the prime minister resigned, the UN has warned. 

Gang members who now run the streets in the war-torn Caribbean nation are equipped with military-grade guns which have been illegally shipped from the US.  

Two men were recently hacked to death by a mob who thought they were buying ammunition or guns for marauding gangs, police said Saturday.

Police confirmed the crowd snatched the men from police custody after they were found with about $20,000 and the equivalent of about $43,000 in Haitian cash in their car, along with two pistols and a box of ammunition.

Carrying that amount of cash was considered suspicious, and residents assumed it was a weapons purchase for the gangs.

A woman looks at lifeless bodies in Port-Au-Price, Haiti, on April 1, 2024. The situation in chaos-wracked Haiti is “cataclysmic”, with more than 1,500 people killed by gang violence so far this year  

People look at the the bodies of three persons shot dead after an overnight shooting in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, April 1, 2024

A man walks past the body of a person who was shot in Port-Au-Price, Haiti, on April 1, 2024

Haiti has become an ‘open air prison’ with ‘apocalyptic’ violence tearing up the streets three weeks on since the prime minister resigned, the UN has warned

Gang members who now run the streets in the war-torn Caribbean nation are equipped with military-grade guns which have been illegally shipped from the US

Pictured: A pilgrim on a motorcycle does charity work in front of a Catholic church during holy season in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on March 30, 2024

The killings happened Friday in a town near the provincial city of Mirebalais. Police appeared to fire warning shots into the air to try to prevent the killings, but the mob killed them anyway. 

One of the victims was a police officer, and the other was a former guard, according to their identification documents.

The murders underscored how outnumbered police are in Haiti, and the anger of Haitians after months of killings, kidnappings and armed attacks by the country’s gangs.

In the last month, gangs have been targeting key infrastructure across the capital, Port-au-Prince, including police stations, the main international airport that remains closed and Haiti´s two biggest prisons, releasing more than 4,000 inmates.

On Thursday, William O´Neill, the U.N. rights expert for Haiti, said the conflict-wracked Caribbean nation now needs between 4,000 and 5,000 international police to help tackle ‘catastrophic’ gang violence, which is targeting key individuals and hospitals, schools, banks and other critical institutions.

In 2023, the number of people killed and injured as a result of gang violence increased significantly, with 4,451 killed and 1,668 injured, O’Neill’s report said. 

This year, as of March 22, the numbers continue to climb, with 1,554 killed and 826 injured.

As a result of the escalating gang violence, so-called ‘self-defense brigades’ have taken justice into their own hands, the report said, and ‘at least 528 cases of lynching were reported in 2023 and a further 59 in 2024.’

Violence in the Caribbean nation spiraled after thousands of inmates escaped a prison in Port-au-Prince and gangs stormed the capital (Pictured: tires on fire near the main prison of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on March 3, 2024)

Pictured: Workers put down a fire set at an office of Haiti’s power company during a protest to demand the resignation of the Prime Minister Ariel Henry in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Friday, March 1, 2024

An elderly homeless woman sits in front of a Catholic church during holy season in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on March 30, 2024

Haiti has been blighted by killings, kidnappings and rapes over the past several years amid the rise of heavily armed gangs roaming the streets. (Pictured: A man drives past a burning barricade during a protest earlier in March)

Pictured: A burnt car outside the city’s National Penitentiary prison where hundreds of inmates are reported to have escaped

The report added that guns and ammunition are believed to have been smuggled in from US states including Florida, Texas and Georgia. 

O´Neill said re-establishing security is key and getting the international security force on the ground in Haiti is critical and urgent.

Getting a transitional presidential council officially installed and active is also ‘crucial’ and ‘absolutely vital,’ O´Neill said, expressing hope this could happen as soon as next week. 

Kenya´s President William Ruto has said he won´t deploy police to lead the multinational security operation as planned until he has a Haitian counterpart, the U.N. expert said.

O´Neill said the trust fund to finance the international police operation also desperately needs funding.

Haiti asked for an international force to combat gangs in October 2022, and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed for a force last July, he said.

Prime Minister Ariel Henry resigned in mid-March following an emergency summit called to address the violence.  

The 74-year-old head of state tendered his resignation a week after the growing coalition of gangs warned of civil war if he did not step down.

His resignation was swiftly confirmed by Guyana’s president Mohamed Irfaan Ali, the current chair of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

‘We acknowledge his resignation upon the establishment of a transitional presidential council and naming of an interim prime minister,’ Ali said, thanking Henry –  who came to power unelected after the assassination of Haiti’s previous president –  for his service.

Ariel Henry, 74, tendered his resignation in mid-March, a week after the growing coalition of gangs warned of civil war if he did not step down

Protesters gather in front of the Canadian embassy in commemoration of the anniversary of the 1987 constitution, demanding that the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) respect the constitution, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, 29 March 2024

Over 300,000 people have been forced to flee their homes from indiscriminate killing and rape in Port-au-Prince, which is largely controlled by gangs. (Pictured: People flee as police officers clash with gangs during a protest earlier in March)

People sit in front of a church to pray in Port-au-Prince on Good Friday on March 29, 2024

The decision, said to have been made Friday, came shortly before the US deployed Marines to evacuate its embassy as gangs led by former police officer Jimmy ‘Barbecue’ Cherizier continue to attack state institutions.

Henry, at the moment, remains unable to return home, stranded in Puerto Rico since Tuesday after officials deemed it unsafe for him to land in neighboring Dominican Republic.

On Saturday, the office of Dominican President Luis Abinader issued a statement explaining that decision – saying ‘Henry is not welcome in the Dominican Republic for safety reasons.’ 

That decision came shortly after another that saw the Caribbean nation close its land border with its embattled neighbor, seemingly leaving the other side of Hispaniola to its fate.

With Henry out of the country, gangs across the region coalesced under Cherizier to from a sort of anti-government militia, waging war on his administration after he failed to step down  in February.

The group had been hellbent on rallying support for a Kenya-led foreign police intervention that they said would have restored order enough so that a new round of elections could be held.

That said, officials on Monday did not name a replacement for the world leader – saying only that CARICOM is now taking on the task of meeting the ‘immediate needs’ of the Haitian people.