Extreme violence and gross human rights abuses, including mass incidents of murder, gang rape and sniper attacks, have sharply increased in Cité Soleil on the outskirts of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, said a UN report published Friday, creating “a living nightmare” for thousands. The report comes as 5.2 million people – nearly half of the Haitian population – are in need of humanitarian aid, including 2.6 million children.
"The findings of this report are horrifying: it paints a picture of how people are being harassed and terrorized by criminal gangs for months without the State being able to stop it. It can only be described as a living nightmare," Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said.
The report said that from 8 July to 31 December 2022 gang violence resulted in 263 murders in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Cité Soleil, the impoverished and densely populated commune near the capital Port-au-Prince. It documented at least 57 gang rapes of women and girls, as well as kidnappings and sexual exploitation. According to the report, on one day alone, 8 July 2022, gang members murdered 95 people, including six children one of whom was two years of age.
The report by the Human Rights Service of the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) said the situation in Brooklyn mirrors the plight of hundreds of thousands of others in Haiti who reside in areas under the control of heavily armed gangs.
The G-9 gang has spread terror by using snipers, who indiscriminately kill anyone who enter their field of vision, the report said, adding that on average six people are killed each week by snipers. The gang blocked access to the neighborhood, thus controlling the entry of basic necessities such as food and health services. Unsanitary conditions have been exacerbated, leading to the spread of infectious diseases such as cholera.
"The case of Cité Soleil is not an isolated one, and sadly many Haitians are experiencing similar ordeals,” said Türk. “It is time for the international community to help the Haitian authorities regain full control, so this suffering can be stopped.”
The UN Human Rights Chief called for a strengthening of the security forces, as well as the judicial system. All perpetrators, as well as those providing support and finance to the gangs, must be prosecuted and tried according to rule of law, and all victims recognized and their rights to truth, justice and reparations must be fulfilled, Türk added.
In a related development, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned Thursday that acts of armed violence against schools in Haiti, including shooting, ransacking, looting and kidnappings have increased nine-fold in one year, as rising insecurity and widespread unrest begin to cripple the country’s education system.
UNICEF said in the first four months of the academic year (October – February), 72 schools were reportedly targeted by violence compared to eight during the same period last year. This includes at least 13 schools targeted by armed groups, one school set on fire, one student killed, and at least two staff members kidnapped, according to reports by UNICEF partner organizations. In the first six days of February alone, 30 schools were shuttered as a result of escalating violence in urban areas, while over 1 in 4 schools has remained closed since October last year.
UNICEF urged all actors to refrain from any action that jeopardizes children’s right to an education. The UN agency also called on the government of Haiti to ensure schools are safe and to hold accountable groups and individuals who harm or threaten children in school.
The country has been in the grips of widespread gang-driven violence for more than a year. Since June 2021 recurrent territorial clashes between rival gangs inside and around Port-au-Prince have forced thousands of people to leave their homes.
According to the United Nations, 60 per cent of Port-au-Prince is controlled by armed groups. In October 2022, the Haitian government requested that the UN Security Council authorize the immediate deployment of an international specialized armed force to help stop the armed groups. The Security Council has discussed the matter but has not made a decision.
In Haiti, millions of people need humanitarian aid to fight hunger. Widespread poverty, rising costs of living, low agricultural production, and expensive food imports have exacerbated existing food insecurity in Haiti, leaving many women, men, and children suffering from hunger and malnutrition.
4.7 million people - more than 40 percent of the population – are acutely food insecure. About 1.8 million people are suffering from emergency levels of hunger. More than 19,000 people are facing catastrophic hunger. At least 5.2 million people (46% of the population) require humanitarian aid in 2023, including 2.6 million children.
Already the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, the Caribbean nation is also suffering from a severe economic crisis that has led to massive protests, looting, and the return of cholera.
Further information
Full text: The Population of Cité Soleil in the Grip of Gang Violence. Investigative report on human rights abuses committed by gangs in the zone of Brooklyn from July to December 2022, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, published February 10, 2023
https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/countries/ht/investigative-report-human-rights-abuses-committed-gangs-zone-brooklyn-july-december-2022.pdf
Full text: Haiti: Armed violence against schools increases nine-fold in one year – UNICEF, press release, published February 9, 2023
https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/haiti-armed-violence-against-schools-increases-nine-fold-one-year-unicef