Haiti: Gangs Move Into Rural Areas As Türk Says New Force ‘Must Be Deployed’

UN NEWS—Gang violence in Haiti is on the rise with new alliances being forged and expansion into rural areas previously considered safe, warns a new UN report.

The report, published on Tuesday by the UN human rights office (OHCHR) and the UN political mission in Haiti (BINUH), calls for the urgent deployment of the multinational security support mission authorized by the UN Security Council in October.

But alongside that, greater efforts will need to be made to strengthen the institutions of the rule of law in Haiti, in particular the police, the judiciary and the penitentiary system, the report notes.

Killing Fields

The report focuses on the Bas-Artibonite district, located in central Haiti, about 100 kilometers from the capital Port-au-Prince, which has seen a significant increase in gang violence over the past two years. Between January 2022 and October 2023, at least 1,694 people were killed, injured or kidnapped in Bas-Artibonite.

Kidnappings for ransom by criminal groups have become a constant fear for public transport users in the district, the report says.

The story of Darleine, a 22-year-old woman, is just one of many: she was dragged off a bus in March this year by gang members, who held her captive for more than two weeks and repeatedly beat and raped her.

A few weeks after her release, she committed suicide.