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.
Retaliatory killings, deadly attacks
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 As put by self-defence groups targeting gang members and people suspected of collaborating with them.
The report notes that more than half of all documented killings and injuries occurred during ground or aerial operations carried out by security forces against gangs, sometimes with the support of a private military company using drones.
Armed groups maintained a grip on neighbourhoods in the capital under their control, carrying out targeted killings in retaliation for security operations. They also murdered people who refused to be extorted, respect their rules or who had denounced attempts by gang leaders to interfere in the electoral process.
Gang members who had been driven out of neighbourhoods such as Bel Air and La Saline by security operations earlier in the year gradually regained a foothold in these areas and committed further abuses there.
The report documents violent attacks linked to territorial struggles.
Beheadings and church killings
In early August, gangs beheaded at least 19 people in the Cité Soleil neighbourhood, including 12 elderly women. Two attacks in the town of Kenscoff in July and August left at least 105 people dead, including 19 children. More than 36 victims were shot dead in the courtyard of a Protestant church.
Attacks were also carried out in the communes of Saint-Michel-de-l'Attalaye in Artibonite and Marigot in South-East, areas that had previously been largely spared from gang infiltration.
More than 16 per cent of the victims were not associated with gangs. At least four people, including two children, were also killed and 10 others injured in attacks carried out using explosive drones.
Furthermore, 44 cases of extrajudicial executions and attempted extrajudicial executions involving members of the Haitian National Police (HNP) were documented, compared with 14 in the previous quarter.
Kidnappings, rape and child recruitment
Meanwhile, at least 137 people were kidnapped for ransom during the reporting period, compared with 81 between April and June. Children accounted for 10 per cent of the victims.
BINUH also documented 344 victims of sexual violence perpetrated by gang members. Victims ranged from age eight to 75, and most cases, 77 per cent, involved gang rape.
Gangs also continued to recruit and exploit children. In August, at least 32 boys aged 14 to 16 who had been forcibly recruited by a gang were killed during fighting with security forces in the commune of Gressier.
The report urges the Haitian authorities to strengthen protection and assistance for people affected by violence.
It calls on the international community to maintain commitment to the country and step up the full deployment of the Gang Suppression Force, in accordance with international human rights standards.
