Photo: Clarens Siffroy Agence France-Presse A man carries a coffin in a street in Port-au-Prince, capital of Haiti, on March 22.
France Media Agency in Geneva
10:59 a.m.
- Americas
The situation in Haiti is “cataclysmic”, with 1,554 killed during the first three months of 2024, the UN warned on Thursday, deploring that “porous borders” make it easier to supply gangs with weapons and ammunition.
“It is shocking that despite the horror of the situation on the ground, weapons continue to flow. I call for more effective implementation of the arms embargo,” says UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk in presenting a new report.< /p>
“Structural and conjectural factors have led Haiti to a cataclysmic situation, characterized by profound political instability and extremely fragile institutions,” according to this report.
Haiti, which was already experiencing a deep political and security crisis, has been plagued by renewed violence since the beginning of the month, when several gangs joined forces to attack strategic locations in Port-au- Prince, saying he wants to overthrow Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
Highly contested, the latter was unable to return to his country after a trip to Kenya at the beginning of the month. He agreed to resign on March 11, and the future Haitian presidential council, which is to take the reins of the country, pledged Wednesday to restore “public and democratic order.”
According to the UN, “corruption, impunity and poor governance, compounded by increasing levels of gang violence, have eroded the rule of law and driven state institutions [ …] on the verge of collapse.”
The number of people killed and injured by gang violence increased significantly in 2023: 4,451 killed and 1,668 injured, the report said. The number of casualties is rising sharply in the first three months of 2024, with 1,554 killed and 826 injured through March 22.
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“Superior Firepower”
The Office notes that despite the arms embargo, “the illicit trafficking of arms and ammunition across porous borders has provided a reliable supply chain for gangs.” , so that “they often have greater firepower than the Haitian national police.”
He reiterates the need to urgently deploy a multinational security support mission to help the national police end the violence and restore the rule of law.
But Mr. Türk emphasizes that “it is essential that the mission effectively integrates human rights into the conduct of its operations.”
According to the report, gangs continue to use sexual violence to brutalize, punish and control the population. But sexual violence is rarely reported and most often goes unpunished.
Gangs also continue to recruit and abuse children — boys and girls, some of whom have been killed while trying to leave the groups.
Along with the escalation of gang violence and the inability of police to counter it, “vigilante brigades” continued to emerge and take the law into their own hands, according to the report.
At least 528 cases of lynching (510 men and 18 women) were reported in 2023, and another 59 in 2024. While some killings appeared spontaneous, others were allegedly encouraged, supported or facilitated by police officers and gang members belonging to the gang coalition known as the G9 and its allies, according to the report.