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UN rights chief warns Haiti ‘dangling over an abyss’

Wednesday, 03 May 2023 6:30 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 03 May 2023 6:30 PM ]

Law enforcement patrols the streets after gang members tried to attack a police station in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on April 25, 2023. (Photo by Reuters)

Facing rising gang violence amid deep political and economic crises, Haiti is "dangling over an abyss," the UN human rights chief warned Wednesday, reiterating a call for the immediate deployment of an international support force.

"The state's lack of capacity to fulfill human rights has completely eroded people's confidence," said Volker Turk, the UN high commissioner for human rights, in a video address to the Security Council.

"I visited the country in February. It is dangling over an abyss," he warned.

The Caribbean nation, the poorest in the Americas, has been gripped by a political and economic crises since the July 2021 assassination of president Jovenel Moise, with gangs now controlling most of the capital.

Turk told the Security Council that Haiti's "social contract has collapsed."

"The current lawlessness is a human rights emergency that calls for a robust response," he added.

Last week, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned in a report that insecurity in Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince "has reached levels comparable to countries in armed conflict."

The UN envoy to the country, Maria Isabel Salvador, likewise warned that "gang violence is expanding at an alarming rate."

The diplomat cited figures from the Haitian National Police and the United Nations that showed the number of reported violent crimes -- including murders, rapes, kidnappings and lynchings -- more than doubling in the first quarter of 2023.

She added children are among the victims "of the most heinous crimes, including killings, kidnappings, and rape."

UN officials have for months asked the Security Council to send a specialized non-UN international armed force to help police restore order.

Turk reiterated that call on Wednesday, saying there is "an immediate need to support Haiti's institutions by deploying a time-bound, specialized and human rights-compliant support force, with a comprehensive action plan."

Though several nations have expressed support for such a plan, none has emerged to take the lead.

(Source: AFP)

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