Following the new waves of violence in Haiti, different UN officials have noted the need to not allow Haiti to sink further into chaos and have asked the international community to step forward, contributing to the multinational mission to support the security.
At least 150 people have died, 92 have been injured and some 20,000 have been forced to leave their homes in the last week.
At least 55% of deaths from simultaneous and apparently coordinated attacks in the capital occurred due to exchanges of gunfire between gang members and police. An increase in mass lynchings has also been reported.
The deaths and injuries from the latest violence, which began on November 11, bring the verified number of victims of gang violence so far this year to a chilling 4,544 dead and 2,060 injured. The real figure is likely even higher. In addition, there are an estimated 700,000 internally displaced people throughout the country, half of them children.
“The nearly four million inhabitants of Port-au-Prince are practically hostages of the gangs that control the main roads in and out of the capital,” said the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Volker Turk indicated that the latest upsurge in violence in the Haitian capital “is an omen that the worst is to come», ensuring that gang violence must stop immediately: «Haiti must not be allowed to sink further into chaos.»
Türk pointed out that the violence of criminal gangs cannot prevail over State institutions and called for concrete measures to be taken to reinforce the Haitian police forces and support the multinational mission to support security in Haiti, approved by the Security Councilin order to protect the population and restore an effective rule of law.
A slow process
Meanwhile, in the Security Council, the UN assistant secretary general for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas echoed Türk’s words and expressed concern about “the slowness with which the Haiti road map is advancing.” to restore democratic institutions.”
After reporting that after surrounding the capital and all access roads, the armed gangs have advanced territorially in strategic areas and, according to some estimates, already control 85% of the capital, and that Haitians are increasingly turning to groups surveillance, establish roadblocks and take justice into their own hands, Miroslav Jenča stated that all this «This is not a new wave of insecurity, but rather a dramatic escalation that shows no signs of abating.».
According to the diplomat, the humanitarian consequences are serious, especially for women and children, since armed gangs are using forms of extreme violence, including sexual violence, as a weapon to subdue the population.
For all these reasons, he assured that “international donors and personnel contributors must intervene immediately.”
Some people who have fled their homes in Haiti now live in schools.
Attack the roots of the conflict
He went on to say that to ensure that security advances are maintained, more must be done to counter the illicit flow of drugs, weapons and ammunition, as well as combat the corruption that incubates the illegal economy and the sponsorship of armed gangs by of the corrupt elites of the political and private sector.
“The UN sanctions regime on Haiti must be used to its full potential to address the root causes of gang violence, including collusion between individuals in the political, economic and security sectorswhich would lead to greater confidence in the political process,” he concluded.
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