More than 5,600 people were reported killed in Haiti last year as a UN-backed mission led by Kenya struggled to contain gang violence, officials said Tuesday.
The number of killings increased by more than 20 percent compared to all of 2023, according to the UN Human Rights Office. In addition, more than 2,200 people were reported injured and nearly 1,500 kidnapped, he said.
“These numbers alone cannot capture the full horrors that are being committed in Haiti, but they show the unrelenting violence that people are experiencing,” said Volker Turk, senior the UN commissioner for human rights, in a statement.
Among the victims were two journalists and a police officer killed when gunmen opened fire on a crowd gathered on Christmas Eve for the reopening of Haiti's largest public hospital. was expected, to which teams had previously been closed.
In all, gang violence has left more than 700,000 Haitians homeless in recent years, with many ending up in makeshift and unsanitary shelters after gunmen ransacked their homes.
“I saw family members being killed, and there was nothing I could do to save them,” recalled Garry Joseph, 55, who now lives in an abandoned government office with hundreds of other refugees. their neighborhoods. “Everyone was running for their lives the night we had to leave. “
Last year's victims also included more than 200 people killed in early December in a gang-controlled slum, many of them elderly Haitians, after a gang leader tried to take revenge on the death of his son, which he suspected of being caused by witchcraft, according to the UN. . This was one of the biggest murders reported in Port-au-Prince, the capital, in recent history.
At least 110 people were killed in Haiti's Cite Soleil slum when a gang leader targeted elderly people suspected of causing his child's illness through witchcraft, the National Human Rights Defense Network has said. saying.
Others killed last year included 315 suspected gang members or people associated with them who were lined up and more than 280 people killed by police in summary charges, said the UN.
Turk wants more logistical and financial support for the UN-backed mission that began in early June.
About 400 police officers from Kenya are leading the mission and about 150 military police officers from Central America, mostly from Guatemala joined them days ago. Several other countries have sent or pledged a handful of personnel, but the total number is still far below the 2,500 officers expected for the mission.
Commercial flights were cancelled
In another blow to Haiti's stability, Sunrise Airways announced Monday it would temporarily suspend flights to and from Port-au-Prince, 85 percent of which are controlled by gangs. They said the decision was based on circumstances beyond their control, adding that the safety of passengers and crew members was a priority.
That leaves the country's main international airport without commercial flights for the third time this year.
“There is nowhere you can go,” Joseph said, noting that gangs also control all major roads entering and leaving Port-au. -Prince and opens fire on public transport at random. “No one is safe in this country, especially in Port-au-Prince… Everyone is just counting their days.” .”
In November, the airport in Port-au-Prince closed after gunfire opened fire and hit three planes, including a Spirit Airlines plane that was mid-flight, injuring a flight attendant.
While the airport has reopened, the US Federal Aviation Administration in December extended a ban on US flights to the Haitian capital until March 12 out of safety concerns. The incident also prompted Canada to update a travel advisory to warn against travel to Haiti due to the threat of gang violence, and Air Transat canceled all aircraft to and from Port-au-Prince until the end of April.
Rony Jean-Bernard, a 30-year-old moto taxi driver now living in a crowded shelter, said gang violence has forced him to rely on handouts.
“I live on bread and sugar most of the time,” he said, noting that government officials stopped providing free food at his shelter around four months ago.
“Every day is like darkness. I can't see where life is taking me with this government in place that makes promises that things will get better. I keep hearing that all day.”
As violence continues to increase, Turk called on all countries to stop exporting to Haiti.
“The extreme insecurity and resulting human rights crisis in the country simply does not allow Haitians to return safely, dignified and stable. And despite that, exports continue,” he said.
Under the administration of US President Joe Biden, approximately 27,800 Haitians have been deported, according to Thomas Cartwright of Witness at the Border, an advocacy group that monitors flight data.
Meanwhile, the neighboring Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, sent more than a quarter of a million people over to Haiti last year as part of an ongoing crackdown on migrants.
