Haiti has seen a significant surge in violent crimes in the last seven months.
Reports of Killings, kidnappings, and sexual violence by criminal groups in and around Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince are endless and the state has done nothing about it.
According to Human Rights Watch 98-page “Living a Nightmare: Haiti Needs an Urgent Rights-Based Response to Escalating Crisis report, Multiple cases of abuse committed by criminal groups and state inaction in four metropolitan Port-au-Prince communes – Cabaret, Cité Soleil, Croix-des-Bouquets, and Port-au-Prince itself – occurred between January and April 2023.
Human Rights Watch also evaluated the humanitarian, political, and judicial crises, plus abuses of previous international interventions and the enduring legacy of slavery, exploitation, and abuse by colonial powers.
Nathalye Cotrino, a crisis and conflict researcher at Human Rights Watch said:
“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.”
“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.”
The UN secretary-general 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.
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.
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.
