Haiti: UN Denounces Intense Criminal Gang Activity
February 13, 2024 Hour: 7:06 pm
On Monday, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights reported that armed gangs in Haiti suffered 300 deaths and injuries in January, but their criminal activity is gaining in intensity.
“The already serious human rights situation is further deteriorating, in a context of relentless and increasing violence by these groups, with disastrous consequences for Haitians,” Volker Türk, the head of the aforementioned entity, said.
He noted that gang indolence is affecting all municipalities in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area, as gang members continue to fight for control of territory and are already operating in areas outside the capital.
“The intensity of the clashes, which sometimes last several hours, may indicate that some gangs recently received ammunition,” the source said.
Gang violence claimed 1,100+ lives in Haiti in January, according to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk; that’s 3X the number documented in January 2023. https://t.co/XcrFclpeqE
— Global Health NOW (@ghn_news)
February 13, 2024
Residents in areas controlled by these groups were directly targeted, and they continue to use sexual violence against women and girls as a weapon.
They also sow fear by sharing gruesome photos and videos of murdered people and raped women on local social networks, Türk denounced in his report.
“The impact of this torrent of violence on children remains of particular concern. In 2023, 167 infants were killed or shot, and some were executed by gangs,” the official lamented.
The recruitment of children into gangs remains extremely worrying, deplored the representative of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
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Autor: teleSUR/ OSG
Fuente: The Star
