LOC17:31
14:31 GMT
GENEVA, March 28 (KUNA) -- UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk called on Thursday for urgent and bold measures to address the dire situation in Haiti, underscoring the imperative for a Multinational Security Support mission deployment to assist the National Police in curbing violence protecting civilians effectively and reinstating the rule of law.
In a statement released from Geneva, Turk emphasized the critical need to prioritize tackling insecurity to safeguard the population and prevent further human suffering in Haiti.
Turk stated that Gangs in Haiti have resorted to brutal tactics including sexual violence against women as a means of control.
He said: "Women have been raped during gang attacks on neighbourhoods in many cases after seeing their husbands killed in front of them. In addition the rape of hostages continues to be used to coerce families into paying ransoms."
Turk warned that gangs in Haiti continue to recruit and abuse children who are unable to leave the gangs due to fear of retaliation which has in some cases led to young gang members being killed for attempting to escape while gangs also disrupt daily life through restrictions on the movement of people goods and services.
Moreover, Turk condemned the emergence of "self-defence brigades" resorting to vigilante justice with reported cases of lynching on the rise.
Turk appealed for tighter national and international controls to stem trafficking of weapons and ammunition to Haiti. Highlighting that despite an arms embargo there is a reliable supply of weapons and ammunition for the gangs coming through porous borders resulting in the gangs often having superior firepower to the Haitian National Police.
The High Commissioner called on all national stakeholders to engage constructively in dialogue to facilitate a political agreement that allows a democratic transition leading to free and fair legislative and presidential elections.
According to a report published by the Human Rights Office there has been a significant increase in the number of victims of gang violence in Haiti with 4,451 killed and 1,668 injured in 2023 rising to 1,554 killed and 826 injured in the first quarter of 2024. (end)
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