Haiti gang leader seeks UN mediation as Salvadoran troops deploy

A Haitian gang leader wanted by the United States has asked the United Nations to mediate with the international force deployed in his country, while El Salvador has sent more than 2,000 troops to Haiti to search for four of its soldiers missing after an ambush.

Wilson Joseph, who leads the 400 Mawozo gang and is known as Lanmò Sanjou, sent a letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres presenting himself as ready to negotiate peace, UN News reported. The UN confirmed on Monday evening that it had received the letter.

"The receipt of such a letter does not constitute an endorsement of its contents, nor an acknowledgment of its author, nor a position taken by the United Nations," Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for the Secretary-General, said in a note to the press.

The four Salvadoran military-aviation technicians were serving with the Gang Suppression Force, the Security Council-backed mission set up to take on the gangs, protect infrastructure and get humanitarian aid moving. They disappeared during an attack by armed groups on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince on 18 October. Haitian authorities treat them as missing. The Salvadoran government says it believes they are alive.

El Salvador's government announced the deployment, Africanews reported, and Haiti's prime minister thanked San Salvador for its support in the fight against gangs. UN News, citing media reports, said the troops sent at the end of October are on a mission to rescue the missing men.

Dujarric said the "vast majority" of the additional 2,000 Salvadoran personnel "are not deployed under the Gang Suppression Force." He said all security operations in Haiti, whether under the force or by national authorities and their partners, must be carried out in full accordance with international law, including human rights law and humanitarian law.

The Gang Suppression Force is authorised to have 5,500 personnel. It remains well below that target.

Joseph's approach to the UN contrasts with his organisation's record. Based in Croix-des-Bouquets, northeast of the capital, 400 Mawozo kidnapped 17 missionaries from the United States and Canada in October 2021. The FBI is offering a $1 million reward for information leading to his arrest.

Gangs control most of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and fight over territory and resources. More than 5,700 people were killed or injured in Haiti between January and mid-September this year, according to the UN, and nearly 1.5 million people have been forced to flee their homes because of violence and insecurity. About 6.4 million people, more than half the population, require humanitarian assistance across the country.