Haiti

A specialized force must be deployed to urgently help Haitian authorities tackle a tsunami of gang violence, as rapes, sniper killings, and kidnappings become daily threats, the spokesperson for the UN rights chief said on Tuesday. … In the first two weeks of March alone, clashes among gangs left at least 208 dead, 164 injured, and 101 kidnapped.

Increasingly sophisticated and high-calibre firearms and ammunition are being trafficked into Haiti, fuelling an ongoing surge of gang violence that has plagued residents for months, according to a new UN assessment released on Thursday.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of María Isabel Salvador of Ecuador as his Special Representative for Haiti and Head of the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH).

Caribbean leaders attending an annual trade bloc meeting say they will not send a force to Haiti to help stop worsening gang violence in that country. The spiraling violence in Haiti has been a key topic at the 15-member CARICOM meeting in the Bahamas with Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry asking for an international military intervention to stop the gang attacks in his country.

Top officials from Canada, the U.S. and Haiti met Wednesday behind closed doors to talk about the spiraling chaos in Haiti, a topic expected to dominate an annual Caribbean trade bloc meeting that opened in the Bahamas.

Extreme violence and gross human rights abuses, including mass incidents of murder, gang rape and sniper attacks, have sharply increased in Cité Soleil on the outskirts of the Haitian capital, said a UN report published on Friday.

The Canadian government said on Sunday it deployed a military aircraft over Haiti to address what it called a "dire security situation" and to support efforts to disrupt the activities of Haitian gangs.

[…] In early October, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres backed a request from the Haitian government to send an international specialized armed force to the Caribbean Island nation to address spiraling insecurity and a deepening humanitarian crisis. Hopes that the United States or Canada might lead the force have not materialized, although both countries have sent equipment to assist the Haitian National Police.

Haiti’s protracted political and humanitarian crisis – marked by spiking levels of gang-related violence and a badly struggling national police force – are reversing crucial security and development strides made since the country’s devastating 2010 earthquake, the senior UN representative in Port-au-Prince told the Security Council on Tuesday. 

[…] “In the 18 months since the assassination of President Moïse, the urgent need for decisive steps to restore democratic functioning and respect for human rights and the rule of law has never been more pressing.”