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More than 3,650 people have been killed in Haiti this year

More than 3,650 people have been killed in Haiti this year

In Haiti, 3,661 people have been murdered so far this year in the midst of the violence of the gangs that control part of the territory, the UN Human Rights Office reported this Friday.

The figures indicate that the high levels of violence have not changed compared to 2023, so The top priority in that country must be to combat insecurityadded the dependency in a report which calls on the Haitian authorities and the international community to redouble efforts to protect the population and prevent further suffering.

Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and head of the Office, stressed that “no more lives must be lost because of this senseless criminality.”

Sexual violence to subjugate

The report, which covers the period until June, details serious patterns of human rights violations and abuses in the capital, Port-au-Prince, and in the Artibonite department, as well as in the southern part of the Oeste department, which until recently had not been affected by violence.

The number of victims of sexual violence, including rape, also increased in the first half of the year. “Gangs have continued to use sexual violence to punish, spread fear and subjugate populations,” the document notes.

Disproportionate use of force

During the months covered by the report, At least 860 people were killed and 393 injured during police operations and patrols in Port-au-Prince, including at least 36 children, in what could constitute an unnecessary and disproportionate use of force.

For their part, the gangs have recruited a large number of children in their ranks.

According to the study, gang violence, which was originally limited to the capital, has spread to the north of the countrydriven by the flight of residents from southern areas, where gang criminal activities had become widespread.

that exodus limited the opportunities that gangs had to generate illicit income through kidnappings, extortion and robbery.

Attacks on farmers and food crisis

In the Artibonite department, the largest agricultural region in the country, gangs have extorted farmers who cultivate their lands and have often invaded the fields, armed with guns and machetes, to steal their crops and livestock.

These attacks have forced farmers to abandon more than 3000 hectares of land and move to less fertile but safer areas, which has worsened the food crisis.

According to updated data from the UN, 1.6 million the number of people facing acute food insecurity in a state of emergency in Haiti.

Threats of further violence

The report explains that the gangs have benefited from political instability and contributed to the destabilization of the previous government, demanding political influence and amnesties, and threatening to resort to further violence if their demands are not met.

Furthermore, they have announced more attacks in view of the deployment of the Mission Multinational Security Support, reinforcing its bastions in anticipation of the police operations that it would carry out.

Following the deployment of the Mission’s first contingent of 200 Kenyan police officers on June 25, one of the gang’s best-known leaders published a video on social media in which he is seen at the head of a military-style parade. formed by several dozen armed men who shout to be ready to confront “foreign soldiers”, calling them “invaders”.

To date, the Mission has deployed an advanced contingent of about 430 troops in Haiti, out of the 2,500 expected to comprise it.

The Human Rights Office supports the Mission in the implementation of a mechanism that Ensure that your operations and practices comply with international human rights standards and that there is accountability if abuses of those guarantees are committed.

The Mission needs adequate resources

The High Commissioner welcomed the deployment of the Mission’s first contingents, as well as the recent establishment of a Transitional Presidential Council and the new transitional government.

“However, It is clear that the Mission needs adequate and sufficient equipment and personnel to fight criminal gangs effectively and sustainably, and prevent them from continuing to spread and wreak havoc on people’s lives,” Türk emphasized.

In this sense, he urged the Haitian authorities to adopt strong measures to strengthen the police and other state institutions paralyzed by endemic corruption, including the judiciary, in order to restore the rule of law and hold those responsible for violations and abuses accountable.

Likewise, he asked them protect children from gangsaddress sexual and gender-based violence, and protect internally displaced people.

Volker Turk also urged the international community to fully implement the selective arms embargothe travel ban and asset freeze imposed by the Security Council with the goal of stopping gang violence in Haiti.

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