UN sounds alarm over ‘new wave of extreme violence’ in Haiti; 600 killed in April
As per the United Nations, last month, in Haiti, more than 600 people died in gang violence — around a 28 per cent spike from the number of deaths recorded last quarter. As per the UN, these deaths happened in areas where authorities lacked the capacity to protect civilians.
Speaking to the press, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk said: “Every report I get from Haiti underlines the scale of the suffering and rams home the message that Haitians need urgent support and they need it now.”
He further reiterated his call for the international community to send a specialised force to help out Haiti police and authorities in their quest to restore peace.
“The government, with support from the international community, must do its utmost to comply with its obligation to provide people with regular and unimpeded access to clean water, food, health and shelter,” he said.
UN’s quarterly update for the months of January to March found that in the nation, violence was “becoming more extreme and more frequent (and) spreading relentlessly as gangs seek to extend their control”.
Citing the report which was released on Tuesday (May 9th) the UN high commissioner’s office said: “In the month of April alone, more than 600 people were killed in a new wave of extreme violence that hit several districts across the capital.”
“This follows the killing of at least 846 people in the first three months of 2023, in addition to 393 injured and 395 kidnapped during that period — a 28-per cent increase in violence on the previous quarter.”
As per Turk’s office, the areas that were previously considered safe were now affected.
Gangs are reportedly using snipers to “indiscriminately” shoot people in the streets and are also “firing into homes”.
Furthermore, people were “being burned alive on public transport,” but authorities do not have the “capacity to respond,” forcing civilians to form vigilante groups to fight the gangs.
This, as per AFP, has led to a rise in “mob killings and lynchings of alleged gang members”. In April, at least 164 such murders were documented.
Volker Turk, who last week warned that Haiti is “dangling over an abyss” says that the vigilante killings “will only fuel the spiral of violence.”
(With inputs from agencies)
