The UN Approves a New Multinational Gang Suppression Force (GSF) in Haiti to Replace the Kenyan-led Security Support Mission

The UN Security Council on Tuesday 30 September, 2025 - authorized a new multinational Gang Suppression Force (GSF) in Haiti to replace the Kenyan-led security support mission, amid escalating gang violence, widespread rights abuses and a humanitarian emergency affecting all aspects of life in the island nation.

The resolution – co-penned by Panama and the United States, and backed by dozens of countries in the region and beyond – was adopted by a vote of 12 in favour, with three abstentions from China, Pakistan, and Russia.  Under an initial 12-month mandate, the GSF will work in close coordination with the Haitian National Police (HNP) and the Haitian armed forces to conduct intelligence-led operations to neutralise gangs, provide security for critical infrastructure, and support humanitarian access.

The 5,550-strong force will also protect vulnerable groups, support reintegration of former fighters and help strengthen Haitian institutions.

The Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission, authorised by the Security Council in October 2023, faced chronic underfunding, insufficient personnel, and limited operational capacity, making it difficult to contain gangs that now control large parts of the capital, Port-au-Prince.

While the MSS enabled the HNP to regain access to some areas and infrastructure, it struggled to match the scale of the crisis.

Kenya, which led the MSS, also backed the new mechanism.

Haiti is facing nearly 1.3 million internally displaced people, rising kidnappings, widespread sexual violence, and gangs that control large areas of the capital.

Haiti is not alone

Introducing the text in the Council, Ambassador Eloy Alfaro de Alba of Panama emphasised the urgency of international support.

“Since last year, this Council has requested the Secretary-General to put forward recommendations to address the multidimensional crisis in Haiti.

Haiti is facing an unprecedented, multi-dimensional crisis that requires our decisive attention,” he said.

He urged all Security Council members to support the initiative, stating that doing so would “send a clear message to Haiti – you are not on your own.”

UN Support Office in Haiti

The resolution also tasks the Secretary-General to establish a UN Support Office in Haiti (UNSOH) to provide logistical and operational support to the GSF, HNP and Haitian armed forces, including rations, medical care, transportation, strategic communications and troop rotation.  UNSOH will also support the Organization of American States’ SECURE-Haiti project and ensure compliance with international human rights standards.

A force against gangs

The United States, a sponsor of the resolution, highlighted the scale of the new mission.  Ambassador Mike Waltz said that the MSS mission lacked the scale, scope and resources needed to take the fight to the gangs and restore a baseline of security in Haiti.

“Today’s vote sets that right.  With this vote to transform the MSS mission to the new Gang Suppression Force, a mission five times the size of its predecessor and with a strengthened mandate to go after the gangs,” he noted.

“The international community is sharing the burden and living up to its promise to help Haiti turn the tide.  It offers Haiti the chance to assume responsibility for its own security.”

Haitian government ultimately responsible

The Council stressed that Haiti’s government retains “primary responsibility” for national security and governance reform, including tackling corruption, illegal arms flows and the recruitment of children by gangs.

The GSF is intended to support Haitian authorities while creating conditions for the country to gradually assume full security responsibility.

A decisive turning point

The decision to transform the MSS mission to the GSF marked “a decisive turning point” in one of the most serious challenges in Haiti’s already turbulent history, the country’s ambassador said after the vote.

While the Multinational Security Support mission has been “a valuable support and a strong signal of international solidarity”, Ambassador Pierre Ericq Pierre stressed: “But the reality on the ground has reminded us that the scale and sophistication of the threat far exceeds the mandate initially granted to this mission.”

As the Security Council granted a stronger, more offensive and more operational mandate, “it is giving the international community the means to respond to the gravity of the situation in Haiti,” he added.

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U.S. Treasury Sanctions Former Haitian Politician and Gang Leader for Their Connections to Serious Human Rights Abuse

WASHINGTON — Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is sanctioning a former member of Haiti’s parliament, Prophane Victor, for his role in forming, supporting, and arming gangs and their members that have committed serious human rights abuse in Haiti.  OFAC is also designating Luckson Elan, the current leader of the Gran Grif gang, for his involvement in serious human rights abuse related to gang activity in Haiti’s Artibonite department.

Prophane Victor, and Luckson Elan - Haiti

“Victor and Elan, through their influence over or leadership of the gangs in Haiti, have sought to perpetuate the horrific violence and instability,” said Acting Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley T. Smith.  “Treasury remains committed to holding accountable those who seek to leverage human rights abuses, violence, and corruption to achieve their political aims.”

Promoting accountability for gender-based violence is a top priority for the U.S. government.  President Biden issued a Memorandum on Promoting Accountability for Conflict-Related Sexual Violence in November 2022 that directs the U.S. government to strengthen our exercise of financial, diplomatic, and legal tools against this scourge.  The UN Panel of Experts report on Haiti states that the “levels of violence and the depths of cruelty that gangs will go to in violating human rights are unprecedented, with regular indiscriminate attacks against the population and the obstruction of humanitarian assistance.  Sexual and gender-based violence and rape in particular have become one of the most horrific expressions of violence over the past two years.  Such violence and insecurity not only undermine the political transition, but also decimate the national economy and threaten the future of the country.”  Today’s action targets one actor directly responsible for gender-based violence and one that has provided material support to gangs, including those that have engaged in gender-based violence as a regular practice of intimidation, control, and extortion.

serious human rights abuse IN ARTIBONITE, Haiti

Prophane Victor is a former Haitian legislator who started arming young men in Petite Rivière, Artibonite to secure his control over the area and his election in 2016.  Those men went on to form the Gran Grif gang, which is currently the largest gang in the Artibonite department and the main perpetrator of abuses, including sexual violence.

Prophane Victor materially supported Gran Grif until at least 2020.  Prophane Victor has also trafficked weapons to Haiti and is known to have relationships with and provided funds to other gangs throughout Haiti, including rivals of Gran Grif.  Prophane Victor’s gang affiliations and material support to them contribute to the climate of terror as the gangs engage in an array of cruelty and violence, fight for control, and leave residents to pay the consequences.

Luckson Elan is the current head of Gran Grif gang.  Luckson Elan and other members of the Gran Grif gang are responsible for serious human rights abuse including kidnapping, murder, beating, and raping of women and children, as well as looting, destruction, extortion, hijacking, and stealing crops and livestock.  The situation is especially devastating for his child victims who have been subjected to forced recruitment and sexual violence.

OFAC is designating Prophane Victor pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13818 for being a person who has materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of an entity, including any government entity, that has engaged in, or whose members have engaged in, serious human rights abuse, where the activity is conducted by a foreign person.

OFAC is designating Luckson Elan pursuant to E.O. 13818 for being a foreign person who is responsible for or complicit in, or has directly or indirectly engaged in, serious human rights abuse.  OFAC also is designating Luckson Elan pursuant to E.O. 13818 for being or having been a leader or official of an entity, including any government entity, that has engaged in, or whose members have engaged in, serious human rights abuse relating to the leader’s or official’s tenure.

SANCTIONS IMPLICATIONS

As a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of the designated persons described above that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC.  In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, individually or in the aggregate, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked.

Unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC, or exempt, OFAC’s regulations generally prohibit all transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of designated or otherwise blocked persons.  U.S. persons may face civil or criminal penalties for violations of E.O. 13818. Non-U.S. persons are also prohibited from causing or conspiring to cause U.S. persons to wittingly or unwittingly violate U.S. sanctions, as well as engaging in conduct that evades U.S. sanctions. OFAC’s Economic Sanctions Enforcement Guidelines provide more information regarding OFAC’s enforcement of U.S. sanctions, including the factors that OFAC generally considers when determining an appropriate response to an apparent violation.

Financial institutions and other persons that engage in certain transactions or activities with the sanctioned entities and individuals may expose themselves to sanctions or be subject to an enforcement action.  The prohibitions include the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any designated person, or the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person.

The power and integrity of OFAC sanctions derive not only from OFAC’s ability to designate and add persons to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) List, but also from its willingness to remove persons from the SDN List consistent with the law.  The ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish, but to bring about a positive change in behavior.

For information concerning the process for seeking removal from an OFAC list, including the SDN List, please refer to OFAC’s Frequently Asked Question 897 here. For detailed information on the process to submit a request for removal from an OFAC sanctions list, please click here.

GLOBAL MAGNITSKY

Building upon the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, E.O. 13818 was issued on December 20, 2017, in recognition that the prevalence of human rights abuse and corruption that have their source, in whole or in substantial part, outside the United States, had reached such scope and gravity as to threaten the stability of international political and economic systems.  Human rights abuse and corruption undermine the values that form an essential foundation of stable, secure, and functioning societies; have devastating impacts on individuals; weaken democratic institutions; degrade the rule of law; perpetuate violent conflicts; facilitate the activities of dangerous persons; and undermine economic markets.  The United States seeks to impose tangible and significant consequences on those who commit serious human rights abuse or engage in corruption, as well as to protect the financial system of the United States from abuse by these same persons.

September 25, 2025

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