Without a strong central authority for over three years, the gangs that had long operated in the shadows began to take over. Now, armed groups control an estimated eighty percent of Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital, and more than 12,000 people have been slaughtered.

Since January, nearly five thousand civilian deaths have occurred as a result of relentless gang warfare in Port-au-Prince, the country’s capital city, and its immediate environs. The country itself has slid into a catastrophic humanitarian emergency,