Haiti: More than 1,000 killed between July and September, UN report reveals

In Port-au-Prince where armed gangs hold sway, displaced site president Pierre works on a youth reintegration programme.

More than 1,000 people were killed in Haiti during the third quarter of this year, as armed gangs continue to terrorize the population in the capital Port-au-Prince and beyond, the UN team in the island nation, said in its latest human rights report.

It details bloody turf wars, sexual violence and other horrors, noting that serious violations and abuses continue to be committed across the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area and in the Artibonite and South-East departments.

“The scale of the massacres documented during this period, particularly in Kenscoff and several other localities that had previously been spared, reminds us of the absolute need to strengthen both mechanisms for protecting the population and the presence of the State in recently liberated areas,” said Carlos Ruiz Massieu, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Haiti and Head of the UN Integrated Office in the country, BINUH .

The UN Security Council has authorized a Gang Suppression Force for the Caribbean country which has yet to be fully deployed.

Between July and September, at least 1,167 people were killed and 459 injured in Haiti. Gangs were responsible for more than 45 per cent of these incidents, while around five per cent were attributable to self-defence groups targeting gang members and people suspected of collaborating with them.

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