Crisis in Haiti

“The Haitian people cannot be forgotten.”

The UN human rights chief sounded the alarm over the rapidly deteriorating situation in Haiti, calling it a “catastrophe” fuelled by gang violence, widespread impunity and a political process that is hanging by a thread.

Volker Türk told the Human Rights Council in Geneva that the country had reached “yet another crisis point,” with heavily armed gangs expanding their control, public institutions in ruins and a humanitarian emergency deepening by the day.

“I am not sure the usual description of gang violence captures the amount of unbearable suffering that has been inflicted on the Haitian people,” Mr. Türk said.

Between July 2024 and February 2025, 4,239 people were killed and 1,356 injured, with 92 per cent of casualties attributed to gun violence.

Gangs, armed with increasingly sophisticated weapons mostly trafficked from abroad, are killing civilians, destroying schools and healthcare facilities, and using sexual violence and mass kidnappings to terrorise communities.

Destruction as governance

The rights chief warned that gangs are no longer just operating in pockets of Port-au-Prince – they are implementing their own rule across wider parts of the capital and beyond.

The Viv Ansanm gang coalition and others have launched coordinated attacks, often outnumbering police, and have destroyed or taken over schools, orphanages, courts, media outlets and hospitals.

In one December incident alone, at least 207 people were killed over five days in Cité Soleil.

Sexual violence is being used deliberately to assert control, Mr. Türk said, citing gang rapes in public spaces and even the execution of victims after assault.

The forced recruitment and trafficking of children is also on the rise.

Meanwhile, more than 700 kidnappings were documented during the reporting period.  “Those who attempted to resist abduction were often shot dead,” Mr. Türk said.

Police violence and impunity

Despite efforts by the Haitian National Police and the Security Council-mandated Multinational Security Support Mission, the State is losing ground.

Law enforcement operations against gangs have resulted in over 2,000 people killed or injured – a 60 per cent increase – with nearly a third of those victims not involved in any violence.

OHCHR documented at least 219 extrajudicial executions by specialised police units during the reporting period, up from just 33 the year before.

There has also been a rise in mob lynchings and self-defence groups, sometimes with police complicity.

Mr. Türk stressed the urgent need to accelerate the deployment of the Multinational Security Support Mission and ensure full human rights compliance mechanisms are in place.

Hunger, displacement, despair

The human toll of the violence is staggering.  More than one million people are now displaced, 40,000 in recent weeks alone.

Half of all Haitians – 5.5 million people – face acute food insecurity and two million have been reduced to emergency hunger levels.

Nearly 6,000 people are living in famine-like conditions, while 500,000 children are displaced -  a quarter suffering stunted growth due to malnutrition.

Only half of health facilities in the capital are fully operational, and 31 per cent have shut down due to insecurity.

“The impact on children is particularly devastating,” said Mr. Türk. “[This] will impact them for life.”

Justice, not just security

The High Commissioner welcomed Haiti’s recent decision to establish two specialised judicial units to tackle human rights violations and financial crimes but said much more must be done.

“The most crucial first step here is to stop the illicit flow of arms into the country,” he said, stressing the need to fully implement the Security Council’s arms embargo, travel bans and asset freezes.

Mr. Türk emphasised that “there is a way out”, but only with political will, international support and urgent action to end the cycle of corruption, impunity and senseless violence.

“I call on each and every one of you, including the media, to put the spotlight on this crisis,” he said.  “The Haitian people cannot be forgotten.”

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The Rise of Gang Violence in Haiti

The United Nations (UN) Human Rights Office and the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH), calls for the urgent deployment of the Multinational Security Support mission authorized by the UN Security Council in October, in accordance with international human rights norms and standards

GENEVA/PORT-AU-PRINCE (28 November 2023) - A new UN report out today details a further, shocking rise in gang violence in Haiti as criminal gangs forge alliances and expand to rural areas previously considered safe – killing, raping, kidnapping, and destroying property, among other abuses.

The report, released by the UN Human Rights Office and the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH), calls for the urgent deployment of the Multinational Security Support mission authorized by the UN Security Council in October, in accordance with international human rights norms and standards.  Increased efforts will need to be deployed to strengthen Haiti’s rule of law institutions, in particular the police, the judiciary, and the prison system, the report notes.

The report focuses on the Bas-Artibonite district, located in Central Haiti, about 100 kilometres from the capital Port-au-Prince, which has seen a significant rise in gang violence in the last two years.  Between January 2022 and October 2023, at least 1,694 people were killed, injured, or kidnapped in Bas-Artibonite.

Kidnapping for ransom by criminal groups has become a constant fear for users of public transport across Bas-Artibonite, the report states.  The story of Darleine, a 22-year-old woman is one of many: she was dragged off a bus in March this year by gang members, who held her captive for over two weeks and repeatedly beat and raped her.  A few weeks after she was released, she committed suicide.

The report documents criminal groups rampaging through “rival” villages, executing local people and using sexual violence against women and even very young children.  The groups also loot farmers’ properties, crops and livestock and destroy irrigation canals, contributing to the displacement of more than 22,000 people from their villages and significantly reducing the amount of cultivated land, heightening food insecurity.  In September 2023, more than 45 per cent of the population of Bas-Artibonite was in a situation of acute food insecurity.  Gang violence has also left many farming families unable to repay their debts or to access basic services.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk warned that across Haiti, at least 3,960 people have been killed, 1,432 injured and 2,951 kidnapped in gang-related violence this year alone.

“The situation in Haiti is cataclysmic.  We are continuing to receive reports of killings, sexual violence, displacement and other violence – including in hospitals,” Türk said.

“With terrible violence against the population expanding – within and outside Port-au-Prince – and the inability of the police to stop them, the much-needed Multinational Security Support mission needs to be deployed to Haiti as soon as possible,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said.

The High Commissioner stressed that the support mission must include internal oversight mechanisms and other safeguards to ensure its compliance with international human rights norms and standards.

Given the worsening violence and further to the October 2023 report of the UN Panel of Experts on Haiti, the report also calls on the Security Council to update the list of individuals and entities subject to UN sanctions for supporting, preparing, ordering, or committing acts contrary to international human rights law.

“There needs to be continued emphasis on the implementation of the arms embargo and sanctions targeting those behind this untenable situation,” the High Commissioner said.

“I also call on the Haitian authorities to fulfil their international human rights obligations and to put in place robust measures to strengthen the country’s institutions and improve governance, including by tackling corruption and addressing impunity.”

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