Killings, kidnappings, and sexual violence by criminal groups in and around Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, have increased dramatically since the start of 2023 with a weak to non-existent state response, the international human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) warned in a report released Monday. HRW said while international security support may be needed, it should be “part of a multi-faceted response with robust human rights safeguards.”
The report documents abuses committed by criminal groups and state inaction in four metropolitan Port-au-Prince communes between January and April 2023. In Haiti, the state is nearly absent, impunity reigns, and nearly half the population is acutely food insecure.
Human Rights Watch interviewed over 100 people, including 58 victims and witnesses of abuses interviewed in Haiti, as well as members of Haitian civil society, human rights and diaspora groups, representatives of the UN and humanitarian agencies, Haitian political actors, and government officials, including Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
The rights group said it also reviewed data and reports from international and nongovernmental organizations, Haitian civil society groups, and media, and verified and geolocated videos and photographs of violent incidents. In its report, Human Rights Watch also assessed the humanitarian, political, and judicial crises, plus abuses of previous international interventions and the enduring legacy of slavery, exploitation, and abuse by colonial powers.
“Urgent action is needed to address the extreme levels of violence and the palpable fear, hunger, and sense of abandonment that so many Haitians experience today,” said Nathalye Cotrino, crisis and conflict researcher at Human Rights Watch.
“International security support may be needed, but it will likely only help with a new transitional government in place and as part of a multi-faceted response with robust human rights safeguards.”
HRW said the United Nations, the United States, France, Canada, members of the Caribbean Community, and other concerned governments should act urgently to support Haiti in overcoming its crisis and ensuring a democratic transition.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres is due to present options in the coming days to the UN Security Council for the deployment of a consensual international force to Haiti to help restore security, following a request from Haiti’s prime minister. Kenya has offered to take the lead and to provide 1,000 police officers for a multinational force.
In October 2022, Haiti's government requested the UN Security Council authorize an international force to assist the national police in eliminating the threat from the gangs that are terrorizing the population and preventing their access to food, clean water, education and many basic services.
The request was supported by the UN Secretary-General and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk. The Security Council has discussed the matter but has not made a decision.
In late July, Kenya offered to lead a multinational police force to help stabilize Haiti. The Kenyan Government said it will formalize its offer once the UN Security Council adopts a resolution with a mandate for the non-UN force. Meanwhile, the governments of the Caribbean countries of the Bahamas and Jamaica have offered to join Kenya and contribute to a multinational force.
Human Rights Watch stressed that efforts by an international security force to secure key locations and the country’s main roads should be accompanied by initiatives to provide jobs, education, and access to basic necessities in areas currently controlled by criminal groups, as well as to ensure that those responsible for serious abuses are investigated and prosecuted in credible, fair, rights-respecting procedures.
“The ongoing legacies of past abusive foreign interventions in Haiti should not be an excuse for inaction,” Cotrino said.
“It should instead be a call to action to right past wrongs and to support Haitian efforts towards true democratic governance, respect for basic human rights, and an end to the deadly cycles of violence and abuse.”
The UN estimates that criminal groups in Haiti killed more than 2,000 people in the first half of 2023, kidnapped more than 1,000, and used sexual violence to terrorize the population. Haiti has also seen an alarming increase in mob killings and lynchings of suspected gang members.
Approximately 150 criminal groups operate in the capital, Port-au-Prince, and its metropolitan region, many under two of the main criminal coalitions, the G-Pèp federation and the G9 alliance.
While the Haitian government has failed to protect people from the violence of these criminal groups, the situation has been exacerbated by the continued flow of weapons and ammunition to Haiti, largely from the US state of Florida, HRW said.
Many of the groups are alleged to have ties with senior political officials, economic actors, and police officers. Based on available information, there have been no prosecutions or convictions of those responsible for killings, kidnappings, and sexual violence, or their supporters, since the start of 2023, the rights group said.
The security crisis compounds an already dire humanitarian situation. The humanitarian situation in the country is increasingly grim and likely to deteriorate even further. The United Nations estimates that more than 5.2 million people - 46 percent of the population - require humanitarian aid this year. Among those in need are nearly 3 million children – the highest number on record.
Kidnappings, killings and gang violence have worsened the economic situation and increased insecurity, particularly in the capital. Gangs control or influence 80 percent of the capital, Port-au-Prince. They also control strategic access routes in the country and have expanded their criminal activities throughout Haiti. Armed groups commit serious abuses against the population, including large-scale sexual violence, forcing entire communities to flee.
Almost 195,000 people have been internally displaced due to violence since 2022, and tens of thousands have attempted to flee the country. Despite repeated calls from the UN that Haitians should not be forcibly returned to Haiti, other countries have returned nearly 74,000 people to Haiti in the first half of 2023.
Violence, 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.
According to the latest IPC food security analysis, 4.9 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. The number of children suffering from severe wasting has risen to more than 115,000 across the country. Nearly a quarter of Haiti’s children are chronically malnourished.
The United Nations humanitarian response plan (HRP) for Haiti requires US$720 million to help more than three million people. Yet, the HRP is currently only 25.5 percent funded. In July, the World Food Programme (WFP) announced it has been forced to cut the number of people receiving emergency food assistance in Haiti by 25 percent, due to dwindling funding levels.
Further information
Full text: “Living a Nightmare”- Haiti Needs an Urgent Rights-Based Response to Escalating Crisis, Human Rights Watch Report, released August 14, 2023
https://www.hrw.org/report/2023/08/14/living-nightmare/haiti-needs-urgent-rights-based-response-escalating-crisis