At least 3,661 people have been killed since January in Haiti, ravaged by gang violence, the UN warned on Friday, pointing to the lack of equipment and personnel of the multinational police mission.
“No more lives should be lost as a result of this senseless crime,” underlines the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, in a press release, on the occasion of the publication of a report.
According to the latest figures compiled by his services, at least 3,661 people have been killed since January, maintaining high levels of violence seen in 2023.
“We are sounding the alarm. Illicit weapons continue to arrive in Haiti” and “humanitarian appeals suffer from chronic underfunding,” declared a spokesperson for the High Commission, Ravina Shamdasani, during a press briefing.
The report, covering the period from January to June, indicates that at least 860 people were killed and 393 injured during police operations and patrols in Port-au-Prince, including at least 36 children, which according to the UN “could constitute an excessive, unjustified and disproportionate use of force”.
The UN calls for the fight against insecurity in Haiti to be a “top priority” and calls for greater action from the Haitian authorities and the international community.
Volker Türk calls in particular for “comprehensively implementing the targeted arms embargo, travel ban and asset freeze imposed by the Security Council”.
“Weapons and ammunition continue to flow into the country, mainly via the United States, but also the Dominican Republic and Jamaica,” detailed Mr.me Shamdasani.
Haiti has long suffered from violence by criminal gangs, but in recent months, it has doubled and further aggravated the humanitarian crisis, with the country counting nearly 600,000 displaced people, according to the UN.
In October 2023, the UN Security Council gave the green light to sending a Multinational Security Support Mission (MMAS) led by Kenya to help the Haitian police.
Need for equipment and personnel
The High Commissioner welcomes “the recent measures taken, such as the establishment of a Presidential Transitional Council, a new transitional government and the deployment of the first contingents of the MMAS”.
“It is clear, however, that the Mission needs adequate and sufficient equipment and personnel to fight effectively and sustainably against armed gangs,” said Volker Türk.
Kenyan President William Ruto assured Thursday at the UN in New York that his country would complete the deployment of additional MMAS contingents “by January” 2025 to reach 2,500 police officers.
Kenya began deploying its first contingents this summer, now numbering some 400 police officers, plus around twenty men from Jamaica and Belize.
“Kenya and other countries in the Caribbean and Africa are ready to deploy but are hampered by a lack of equipment, logistics and funds,” lamented President Ruto.
The president of the transition council in Haiti Edgard Leblanc Fils called on Thursday the international community to begin a “reflection” to transform the MMAS into a UN peacekeeping mission.
“This is a matter for the Security Council,” noted Ms. Shamdasani, but “it is crucial that any deployed force has adequate resources and funding.”
In its report, the UN details “extremely serious trends in human rights violations and abuses committed in the capital of Port-au-Prince and in the department of Artibonite — as well as in the southern part of the department of the West, which until recently had been largely spared violence.”
The number of victims of sexual violence also increased during the first half of the year, including gang rapes of children under the age of five.
According to the UN, gangs use “sexual violence to punish, spread fear and subjugate populations”.
Violence and increasing extortion by gangs are forcing farmers to abandon their land, while the UN estimates that 1.6 million people in the country face acute food insecurity.