(Reuters) – The U.N. Security Council approved sanctions today including an asset freeze, travel ban and arms embargo on anyone who threatens the peace or stability of Haiti, imposing the measures on the Caribbean state’s most powerful gang leader.
The 15-member council voted unanimously to adopt a resolution drafted by the United States and Mexico. The first person sanctioned was gang leader Jimmy Cherizier, a former policeman known locally by his alias “Barbecue”.
Cherizier has “engaged in acts that threaten the peace, security, and stability of Haiti and has planned, directed, or committed acts that constitute serious human rights abuses,” according to the text of the resolution.
“His actions have directly contributed to the economic paralysis and humanitarian crisis in Haiti”.
The draft’s sponsors teamed up with council members including China and Russia to approve the sanctions.
Last month, gangs led by Cherizier blocked the entrance to the Varreux fuel terminal the capital Port-au-Prince, to protest a government announcement to cut fuel subsidies.
Gasoline and diesel supplies have mostly dried up and Haitians also face a shortage of drinking water amid a deadly outbreak of cholera, following chaos unleashed by last year’s presidential assassination and deadly earthquake.