According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), more than 5,600 people lost their lives in Haiti last year due to gang violence. This UN agency specified that criminal violence in Haiti resulted in at least 5,601 deaths in 2024, representing an increase of over 1,000 deaths compared to 2023. Additionally, another 2,212 individuals were injured and 1,494 were kidnapped.

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Volker Türk, the head of OHCHR, stated that “these figures alone cannot reflect the absolute horrors being perpetrated in Haiti but show the relentless violence to which the population is subjected.”

The UN Human Rights Office documented 315 lynchings of gang members and individuals allegedly associated with them, as well as 281 cases of alleged extrajudicial executions involving specialized police units during the past year.

Türk pointed out that “impunity for human rights violations and abuses, along with corruption, continue to prevail in Haiti and are among the main drivers of the multidimensional crisis facing the country, alongside entrenched economic and social inequalities.”

The High Commissioner urged prioritizing the restoration of the rule of law in Haiti and providing logistical and financial support to the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti (MSS).

Furthermore, Türk called for strengthening police oversight mechanisms to hold accountable officers allegedly involved in human rights violations; fully implementing Security Council sanctions and arms embargoes to prevent weapons from falling into the hands of criminal gangs; and halting deportations while insecurity and human rights crises persist.

Regarding Haitian migration and the stigmas faced by displaced populations in countries like the Dominican Republic and the United States, he reiterated his call for all states not to forcibly return anyone to Haiti.

Haiti has been struggling for years to contain gang violence, a situation that worsened following the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse (2017-2021) in July 2021. Since June 2024, a multinational mission composed of 2,500 personnel under a UN mandate has been deployed in Haiti, including police from Kenya, Guatemala, and other nations, aimed at providing security for social and governmental facilities.

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