The frequency of heinous offenses in Haiti, where violent gangs rule huge portions of the country, has reached “record highs,” the UN official representing the Caribbean Island recently noted.
An upsurge in “indiscriminate killings, kidnappings, rapes and attacks on several urban neighborhoods considered relatively safe until recently” was noted in a UN Secretary-General report on Haiti that was released at the beginning of the week.
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UN envoy Maria Isabel Salvador informed the Security Council that, “The security situation on the ground continues to deteriorate as growing gang violence plunge(s) the lives of the people of Haiti into disarray and major crimes are rising sharply to new record highs.”
She expressed her expectation that things would get better with the impending deployment of a multinational intervention force led by Kenya.
The West and Artibonite departments, which are home to the capital Port-au-Prince and the city of Gonaives, saw an increase in major crimes, including as deliberate killings and kidnappings, at previously unheard-of rates, according to the new research.
In comparison to the same period in 2022, which had 577 homicides, 1,239 were registered between July 1 and September 30 by the national police.
Additionally, 701 persons were abducted between July and September, 244% higher than during the same time in 2022.
The UN is particularly worried about killings carried out by vigilante organizations that first surfaced last spring, with “388 alleged gang members lynched,” according to the report, from April 24 to September 30.
Early in October, the Security Council authorized the deployment of the non-UN multinational operation, headed by Kenya, to assist the overburdened Haitian police as the violence caused by gangs controlling more than half of the nation’s capital continued to worsen.
Despite the fact that there haven’t been any elections since 2016, Salvador stated, “Reestablishing control by the Haitian national police is a prerequisite for holding credible and inclusive elections.”
The Security Council’s approval of the operation, she claimed, “raised expectations of millions of Haitians at home and abroad.”
She remarked, “A glimmer of hope was cast towards finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel that is not an oncoming train.
