Haiti: 28 gang members killed, UN signals glimmer of hope in Port-au-Prince
At least 28 gang members have been killed by police and residents of Port-au-Prince. A UN expert has cited a "glimmer of hope" despite the ongoing crisis.
Haiti: gang violence and fragile hope according to the UN
According to seychellesnewsagency.com, at least 28 gang members have been killed by police and residents of Port-au-Prince, as a United Nations expert cited on Monday a "glimmer of hope" for Haiti, noting the liberation of territories formerly under gang control and a police presence that is more "motivated and visible".
William O'Neill, UN expert on the human rights situation in Haiti, spoke to the press at UN headquarters in New York, following a ten-day mission in the country. He described the situation as an "ongoing human rights crisis" causing "massive suffering for the Haitian people, and particularly for the most vulnerable".
Mass displacement and gang territorial control
At least 1.4 million people, residing mainly in the capital, have been forced to flee their homes due to gang violence, more than 10 per cent of the Haitian population. O'Neill described this phenomenon as an "unprecedented level of internal displacement".
At least 26 gangs control up to 90 per cent of Port-au-Prince and its suburbs. Approximately half of their members are children under the age of 18. These groups extort communities, commit rapes and carry out kidnappings for ransom, whilst engaging Haitian security forces for control of territory.
Thousands of people "remain trapped in areas controlled by gangs or along moving front lines", O'Neill emphasised, facing what he described as "invisible borders".
Women and girls, primary victims
For young women and girls, these borders are even more impassable. "They suffer discrimination because they are girls, because they live in neighbourhoods under gang control and because they are poor," O'Neill said. He reported the words of a young girl: "I just want to live well and safely, because it is my country."
Humanitarian crisis and political vacuum
Haiti is facing a humanitarian crisis made worse by persistent violence, floods, droughts and earthquakes. Politically, the country has had no elected president since the assassination of Jovenel Moïse in 2021. Haitians hope that elections will be held later this year.
O'Neill indicated that he remained "deeply concerned about corruption, impunity and the weakness of accountability mechanisms", while describing the current period as "a difficult, but promising moment". "If we can help Haiti address insecurity, fight corruption and impunity, and protect human rights, then everyone will be able to prosper," he affirmed.
Source: Google News HT — Port-au-Prince