The UN took stock of gang violence in Haiti last year. Result: more than 5,600 deaths in what will remain one of the deadliest years in the country plagued by chronic insecurity and despite the presence of an International Security Mission which is struggling to fulfill its role.
2 mins
With our correspondent in Geneva, Jeremy Lanche
In 2024, an average of fifteen Haitians will die every day because of gangs, declares the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. One of the bloodiest episodes took place in early December when a group massacred more than 200 people, amid accusations of voodoo practices. Result: self-defense groups decide to take justice into their own hands.
The UN has recorded 315 cases of lynchings of gang members, suspected members in any case, to which must be added 281 arbitrary executions, often by special units of the Haitian police.
“ These are striking figures », Explains Liz Throssell, spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. “ But they demonstrate how essential it is for the international community to mobilize to stop the flow of weapons to Haiti, because they all end up in the hands of gangs “.
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Deficiencies pointed out
However, an arms embargo exists, decreed by the UN Security Council. But its application leaves something to be desired, as leaves something to be desired the multinational mission supposed to bring order to Haiti. It is made up of several hundred police and military personnel, the majority of them Kenyans.
A little more than 80 soldiers from Guatemala and El Salvador have further swelled its ranks in recent days. The Haitian authorities would like this mission to be transformed into a real UN interposition force, which would give it more power. A hypothesis rejected so far by China and Russia.