A local resident throws tires on the bodies of suspected gang members killed by police. Pétion-Ville, Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
2025 Photo Contest - North and Central America - Stories

Crisis in Haiti

Photographer

Clarens Siffroy

Agence France-Presse
19 November, 2024

A local resident throws tires on the bodies of suspected gang members killed by police. Pétion-Ville, Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Haiti is suffering from an unprecedented surge in gang violence. Since President Moïse was assassinated in 2021, armed gangs have proliferated and violence has intensified. Around 300 criminal groups are active in the country, controlling a territory inhabited by 2.7 million Haitians. Gang violence, reaching levels comparable to war zones, includes killings, disappearances, torture, arson, and systematic sexual violence, notably against women and children. This crisis is deeply rooted in Haiti’s colonial past, slavery, and the crippling independence debt imposed by France, which fueled long-term inequalities. This project, photographed by a resident of Port-au-Prince, captures the human elements behind the statistics of the ongoing crisis.

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Clarens Siffroy
About the photographer

Clarens Siffroy (b. 2000) is a photojournalist who is currently based in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. His work focuses on capturing the realities of social and political events, primarily in Haiti, through visual storytelling.  Since March 2024, he has been a photographer for Agence France-Presse, documenting the ong...

Read the full biography
Technical information
Shutter Speed

1/800

ISO

160

Camera

Nikon D4

Jury comment

The jury felt this project powerfully documents critical news from Haiti through the lens of a local photographer. In a country with the highest level of impunity toward the killing of journalists, the photographer's commitment and work are deeply impactful. The edit balances extreme violence with human elements, telling a compelling story across ten frames.