The Bush administration has been accused of ignoring its own arms embargo and overseeing the sale of $7m-worth (£3.7m) of weapons to the Haitian government to equip its police force. Human rights groups say the police carry out routine executions of dissidents and weapons are often illegally funnelled to armed militia. Robert Muggah of the Swiss-based Small Arms Survey, a non-profit group, said that last year the US effected the sale of thousands of weapons to the... (GunPolicy.org)

GENEVA — There are no quick-exit strategies for Haiti and commitment must be long-term and sustained. That's according to an independent study by the Small Arms Survey, an independent research project located at the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, Switzerland. The report, titled 'Securing Haiti's Transition: Reviewing Human Insecurity and the Prospects for Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration,' and released in Geneva today, said... (GunPolicy.org)

Flying in the face of a promising recovery strategy, the United States has quietly begun shipping arms to Haiti's interim government, despite a 13-year arms embargo on the Caribbean nation. The new arms are meant to brace up a shaky security force, but the reality is that they could actually undermine security by jeopardizing an innovative disarmament effort just getting under way. The island is increasingly in chaos. Armed militia and former army soldiers terrorize... (GunPolicy.org)

Violence in Haiti could break out once more because a UN peacekeeping force is not working hard enough to ensure rival gangs are disarmed, a new report says. The Small Arms Survey, a Geneva-based research group, says gangs and militias on the streets are still heavily armed. An armed uprising forced out President Jean-Bertrand Aristide last year, and many of his armed supporters still control large swathes on countryside. The report comes after a policeman was... (GunPolicy.org)

GENEVA — Tens of thousands of illegal firearms held by civilians and political and criminal gangs in Haiti pose a major threat to efforts to restore peace in the Caribbean country, a U.N.-backed study said on Monday. The study by the Geneva-based Small Arms Group said the proliferation of weapons — whose numbers were being swollen by smuggling — had led to hundreds of deaths, and violations of human rights and crimes affecting tens of thousands of... (GunPolicy.org)

BRASILIA — The United Nations and Brazil are studying ways to collect the hundreds of thousands of illegal arms among Haitian citizens, Brazilian officials said Friday. Brazilian troops are leading the U.N. peacekeeping force in Haiti that took over duties from a U.S.-led interim force back in May. Foreign troops first arrived in Haiti following the Feb. 29 departure of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who left amid growing pressure from armed rebels. Brazil's... (GunPolicy.org)

BRASILIA — Brazil will play a friendly soccer match in Haiti in August, with spectators invited to swap firearms for tickets, Brazilian Sports Minister Agnelo Queiroz said. The minister said Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva wants to clear his agenda to be able to attend the game. Queiroz said Tuesday the match will most likely occur on August 18. Brazilian troops traveled to Haiti in May as part of a United Nations peacekeeping force. Their first act... (GunPolicy.org)

The rising crime rate in Haiti is restricting humanitarian aid distribution in the troubled Caribbean country, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said today. Kidnapping has increased, while cars are stopped and the people inside them robbed, OCHA spokesperson Elisabeth Byrs told a news briefing in Geneva. The police force was still understaffed and had few weapons, while some 25,000 people in the country were estimated to own... (GunPolicy.org)

PORT-AU-PRINCE — When a small cadre of armed rebels walked through the lobby of Haitian Prime Minister Gerard Latortue's office during the visit of a South Florida congressmen last month, their appearance was carefully planned to deliver a message: Disarmament in Haiti is not a done deal. "We want to turn in our arms, but it seems the government doesn't have a plan," said Guy Philippe, the charismatic rebel leader, during a recent interview on the outskirts of the... (GunPolicy.org)

WASHINGTON — On March 15, the peacekeeping mission in Haiti had its first casualty when a US marine was shot by a small-caliber pistol as he patrolled a stronghold of support for ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. While not fatal, the shooting is an unfortunate sign of things to come. With thousands of small arms in Haiti, the threat to US soldiers, Haitian civilians, and sustainable peace is real. The Caribbean island nation is the latest in a long list of... (GunPolicy.org)

GONAÏVES, Haiti — The unofficial chief of police in this city, the birthplace of the uprising that toppled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, is a hot-tempered young man named Wilfort Ferdinand, also known as T-Will. He spends his evenings drinking local rum with his deputies and girlfriends at the bar of a local hotel, a Haitian Secret Service badge dangling from his neck. He spends his days policing the city's streets, his lieutenant Billy Augustin by his side.... (GunPolicy.org)

JOHANNESBURG — When word was out that embattled Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide could be on his way to South Africa, there was still no clarity from government sources about whether an aircraft was scheduled to take arms, ammunition and bullet-proof vests from South Africa to the Caribbean island republic. The reports about a SA Air Force aircraft scheduled to leave on Tuesday, originated from a weekend article in Beeld newspaper. It said the consignment... (GunPolicy.org)

PORT-AU-PRINCE — The Haitian National Police on Thursday burned 233 guns seized during a national disarmament campaign — but most diplomats, and representatives from the Organization of American States who helped craft the effort, stayed away from the ceremony. The campaign to take illegal guns off the streets is intended to satisfy the demands of the opposition, which wants a secure environment for campaigning in legislative elections. Critics have complained... (GunPolicy.org)