(Port-au-Prince) The population of Haiti “continues to suffer from the violation of all its human rights” in a country plagued by gang violence, warned William O’Neill, UN expert on the issue, on Friday.
“We must stop this ongoing agony. It is a race against time,” declared the expert, specifically responsible for the issue of human rights in the country for the United Nations, at the end of his visit to Haiti.
Faced with gangs, who continue to receive weapons despite an international embargo, the police “lack the logistical and technical capacity to counter the gangs,” the expert lamented.
The UN-backed Multinational Security Support Mission (MMAS) has so far deployed “less than a quarter of its planned strength” and has “inadequate” equipment and “insufficient” resources, he added.
The gangs control more than 80% of the capital Port-au-Prince, as well as the country’s main roads.
The country has at least 700,000 internally displaced people, more than half of whom are children, and nearly five million people are suffering from acute food insecurity, the expert said.
“Sexual violence, used as a weapon by gangs to control the population, has increased dramatically in recent months,” O’Neill added.
Gangs are also increasingly engaging in “child trafficking, forced recruitment, and often using them to carry out attacks on public institutions and police operations.”
Faced with this situation, the UN expert insisted that the international mission be given the means to be “effective” in supporting the operations of the Haitian police, as well as to implement the measures provided for by the UN Security Council, in particular the sanctions regime and the targeted arms embargo.
The expert also called on the Haitian authorities, appointed since the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry, to “fight against corruption and bad governance” which is plunging the country into a humanitarian crisis.
“The solutions are there, and they already exist. But efforts must be redoubled immediately,” he concluded.