GENEVA/PORT-AU-PRINCE (11 July 2025) – Escalating gang
violence outside Port-au-Prince has claimed over 1,000 lives
and forced hundreds of thousands to flee since October 2024,
threatening to destabilise not only Haiti but also other
countries in the Caribbean, a UN human rights report
warned today.
The report, by the United Nations
Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) and the UN Human Rights
Office, details the evolution of violent gang incidents
since October 2024 up to June 2025. It also shows how
violence increased sharply in recent months, especially in
the Lower Artibonite and Centre departments, as gangs
continue to extend their influence along key routes in the
north and centre of the country, and towards the Dominican
Republic.
“Human rights abuses outside
Port-au-Prince are intensifying in areas of the country
where the presence of the State is extremely limited. The
international community must strengthen its support to the
authorities, who bear the primary responsibility for
protecting the Haitian population,” said Ulrika
Richardson, ad interim Head of BINUH and UN Resident
Coordinator.
Between 1 October 2024 and 30 June 2025,
at least 1,018 people were killed, 213 others injured and
620 abducted in Artibonite and Centre, as well as in
Ganthier and Fonds Parisien, west of the Port-au-Prince
metropolitan area, the report says.
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Over the same
period, the total number of killings across Haiti was
4,864.*
The report notes that the mass
killing in Pont Sondé (Lower Artibonite) in October 2024,
which left over 100 people dead, marked a major turning
point in the cycle of violence between gangs and the
so-called ‘self-defence’ groups. Several other mass
killings followed, causing mass displacement, including in
the town of Mirebalais (Centre department) which earlier
this year saw all its 100,000 residents
flee.
The Haitian authorities have
deployed specialised police units, supported by the
Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission, to some extent
slowing the gangs’ advances. Ultimately, however, given
their lack of resources, they have been unable to reassert
control over the affected areas.
Against this
backdrop, human rights abuses by self-defence groups have
increased. Summary executions involving Haitian security
forces have also been committed against individuals accused
of supporting gangs, the report says.
“Caught in the
middle of this unending horror story are the Haitian people,
who are at the mercy of horrific violence by gangs and
exposed to human rights violations from the security forces
and abuses by the so-called ‘self-defence’ groups,”
said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker
Türk.
“The human rights violations and abuses that
we have documented are further evidence of why Haiti and the
international community urgently need to step up to end the
violence,” he added.
The expansion of gang
territorial control poses a major risk of spreading violence
and increasing transnational trafficking in arms and people,
the report says.
Among its recommendations, it calls
on the Haitian authorities to ensure police have the
necessary resources to tackle the gangs, in full respect of
international human rights law. It calls for specialised
judicial units to combat corruption and mass crimes,
including sexual violence, to be established as soon as
possible.
The report also calls on the international
community to maintain BINUH’s full operational capacity so
that the office can continue to advise and support the
Haitian government in its efforts to strengthen good
governance and ensure the respect for, and promotion of,
human rights. The strengthening of MSS mission and the full
implementation of the arms embargo will be equally essential
to restore security and the rule of law in Haiti.
To
read the full report, click here: https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/country-reports/intensification-criminal-violence-lower-artibonite-centre-department-and
*Between
1 January 2025 and 30 June at least 3,141 people were
killed.
