Haitians face ‘unremitting violence,’ such as kidnapping, lynching

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Haiti's residents are subjected to "unremitting violence," according to Volker Türk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

In a report released Tuesday, Türk's office said gang violence killed more than 5,600 people in Haiti in 2024, a figure more than 1,000 deaths higher than 2023's toll.

In addition to the deaths, UNHCR said more than 2,200 people were injured by gang violence and nearly 1,500 were kidnapped by gangs.

"Restoring the rule of law must be a priority," Türk said. "These figures alone cannot capture the absolute horrors being perpetrated in Haiti."

Among those horrors was an incident last month in which at least 207 people, many of them senior citizens, were killed by the Wharf Jeremie gang in Port-au-Prince after a gang leader accused the group of being responsible for his son's death from the group's alleged Vodou rituals.

The gang is reported to have burned and mutilated many of the elderly Haitians' bodies to destroy any evidence leading back to the gang. Other bodies were thrown into the sea. This incident was "one of the biggest massacres reported in Port-au-Prince in recent history," according to The Associated Press.

Other horrors in the report included more than 300 lynchings. Most of those lynched were gang members and people affiliated with them, with some of the lynchings "reportedly facilitated by Haitian police officers," according to the U.N. human rights report.

The report also disclosed that last year, there were "281 cases of alleged summary executions involving specialized police units."

"It has long been clear that impunity for human rights violations and abuses, as well as corruption, remain prevalent in Haiti," Türk said.

He also called for more logistical and financial support for the Kenya-led mission in Haiti so that it can "successfully implement its mandate" to deal with the unrest and violence in Haiti.

Türk also called for a halt to deportations to Haiti because the country is not safe.

"The acute insecurity and resulting human rights crisis in the country simply do not allow for the safe, dignified and sustainable return of Haitians. And yet, deportations are continuing," he said.

AP reports that Haiti's neighbor, the Dominican Republic, deported more than a quarter million people to Haiti last year.

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