Tougher measures are needed to stop gang violence in Haiti

Tougher measures are needed to stem gang violence in Haiti, which has brought the Caribbean island’s economy and government to its knees by spreading fear and subjugating the population through killings, looting, exploitation and brutal abuse, according to a report by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The latest figures documented by the OHCHR show that more than 3,660 people have died since January.

“No more lives should be lost to this senseless crime,” Volker Türk, the UN human rights chief, said in a statement coinciding with the report’s release on Friday.

He welcomed “recent positive steps” such as the establishment of the new Transitional Presidential Council and government, and the deployment of the first contingent of the Multinational Security Support Mission, led by the Kenya Police.

However, Türk noted that the equipment and personnel on the ground were clearly not sufficient “to effectively and sustainably counter the criminal gangs, and prevent them from spreading further and wreaking havoc on people’s lives.”

The report, which covers the period up to June, describes extremely serious patterns of human rights violations and abuses taking place in the capital Port-au-Prince. It documents at least 860 killings and 393 injuries, including at least 36 children, during police operations “in what could involve the use of unnecessary and disproportionate force.”

It said the gangs have continued to “expand their territorial control and increase illicit revenues” beyond the capital into new areas of the country “where they could generate even more criminal forms of income.”

Ravina Shamdasani, the spokesperson for the high commissioner, said gang violence has continued to increase and has spread to the Artibonite department, as well as to the southern part of the Western department, which until recently was largely unaffected by violence.

“In Artibonite, the country’s agricultural heartland, increasing gang violence and extortion have forced farmers to abandon more than 3,000 hectares of land, further endangering Haiti’s food production at a time when an estimated 1.6 million people in the country are faced with acute food assistance at emergency level. uncertainty,” she said.

She noted that the gangs seek to maximize both territorial and financial gains through a variety of illegal methods, including extortion, protection fraud, murder of perceived opponents and kidnapping people for ransom.

“They do everything they can to maintain this control, including raping women and raping children… gangs have continued to use sexual violence to punish, instill fear and subjugate the population,” she said.

According to the report, “Human rights violations and abuses continue at alarming levels. The brutal forms of gender-based violence, including sexual violence, have reached new heights, causing irreversible harm to victims and survivors and destroying generations.”

The report underlines the ambition of criminal gangs to maintain control and power. It notes that gangs that have taken advantage of political instability and worked to destabilize the former government “are demanding political influence and amnesty, and threaten to resort to more violence if their demands are not met.”

The report’s authors say the gangs are substantiating their demands by warning authorities on social media to “prepare for an even more intense battle” and to reassess their action in view of the arrival of the Multinational Security Support Mission.

Following the deployment of Kenyan peacekeepers, the report says a gang leader posted a video on social media showing dozens of armed men proclaiming their willingness “to take on these foreign soldiers,” whom they consider “invaders.” .

Human rights observers agree that Haiti’s gangs are able to operate their criminal enterprises and carry out large-scale attacks using firearms thanks to the unhindered flow of weapons into the country. This is despite an international arms embargo imposed on Haiti by the Security Council.

High Commissioner Türk urges the international community to implement the targeted arms embargo, travel and asset freezes imposed by the UN Security Council to end gang violence in Haiti.

He also joined many of the report’s other recommendations, which aim to strengthen the police and other state institutions “crippled by endemic corruption, including the judiciary.”

He also calls on authorities to protect children from gangs and redouble efforts to tackle gender and sexual violence and protect internally displaced persons.

Haiti has been in turmoil since the July 7, 2021, assassination of President Jovenel Moise at his home in the Petion-Ville suburb of Port-au-Prince. Armed gangs now control much of the capital and have spread to other parts of the country, committing massacres, kidnappings, human trafficking and sexual violence.