Populations in Port-au-Prince and Artibonite, Haiti, are facing possible crimes against humanity due to widespread violence and abuses by armed gangs.

BACKGROUND:

Since the assassination of then-President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021, violence has intensified in Haiti, particularly in Port-au-Prince, where armed gangs have rapidly proliferated and are perpetrating widespread abuses in a climate of total impunity. Approximately 300 criminal groups are active in Haiti, and the UN estimates that 2.7 million Haitians, including over 600,000 children, live in areas under gang control. Throughout 2023 several UN officials warned that insecurity in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area reached levels comparable to countries in armed conflict. Gang violence caused unprecedented harm, with over 8,400 people killed, injured or kidnapped – more than double the figure from 2022. There has also been a significant rise in gang violence in Artibonite, a department in central Haiti, where populations face near-daily attacks and abuses.

Populations are often confined to their neighborhood and face killings, disappearances, torture and indiscriminate sniper attacks. Gangs launch frequent attacks on schools, medical facilities and humanitarian organizations. The Human Rights Service of the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) has documented the forcible recruitment of children, with gangs establishing checkpoints around schools. Several top UN officials and experts have reported that gangs are using systematic sexual violence, including collective rape and mutilation, as a means of exerting territorial control and to terrorize and inflict pain on communities. The UN Security Council (UNSC)-mandated Panel of Experts observed that the use of sexual violence is a systematic and pervasive tactic among most gangs and not the result of isolated incidents.

Throughout 2023 civilians were targeted with deadly violence amid intense turf wars between two of the largest gang coalitions – G9 and Gpèp – in Cité Soleil and Port-au-Prince communes, as well as by the territorial expansion of other gangs in eastern and southern communes of the capital. In response to escalating violence, a civilian self-defense movement – known as “Bwa Kale” – emerged in April 2023. Hundreds of alleged gang members have subsequently been killed. In February 2024 G9 and Gpèp joined forces (known as Viv Ansanm) and launched a coordinated offensive targeting critical civilian infrastructure across Port-au-Prince, including hospitals and cultural and educational institutions, leading to an unprecedented increase in civilian targeting and violent attacks.

Insecurity has compounded an existing humanitarian crisis, with nearly 5 million Haitians facing acute hunger and 1.6 million at risk of starvation. More than 580,000 people are currently displaced, including 300,000 children, and nearly 100,000 Haitians have been forcibly returned by neighboring countries this year. A UN Women Rapid Gender Assessment found that aggression against women and girls, particularly rape, is being used in most makeshift camps as a deliberate tactic to control access to scarce humanitarian assistance.

The grave security situation has been exacerbated by protracted political deadlock, as well as a dysfunctional judiciary and the lack of legitimate executive or legislative bodies, in the last several years. In April 2024 a Transitional Presidential Council was installed and made responsible for preparing a roadmap toward elections – the first elections since 2016 – among other tasks.

In response to the multidimensional crisis, in October 2022 the UNSC established a sanctions regime, including an arms embargo, targeted asset freezes and travel ban measures. The following year, the UNSC renewed the sanctions regime and broadened the arms embargo, prohibiting all arms sales or transfers to Haiti.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS:

Over the last few months, gangs have expanded to new areas of Port-au-Prince, particularly threatening populations in Carrefour, Ganthier and Gressier with indiscriminate violence, rape, torture and kidnappings. The security situation further deteriorated in Artibonite, where gangs continued their attacks on rural populations, including in communes previously spared from violence. In July BINUH warned in its quarterly report that while the number of people killed and injured by gang violence had decreased, the rates of sexual violence and number of children forcibly recruited increased since the last quarter. During August Save the Children reported that an average of five children a week in the first six months of 2024 were killed or injured, while asserting the actual figure is likely much higher.

The UN Secretary-General noted in his June report that gangs were trafficking and recruiting more children, and increasing the number of children carrying weapons, likely in anticipation of the deployment of the UNSC-authorized Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS). Ransom kidnappings increased in July as gangs aimed to augment resources ahead of MSS operations. Despite this, the deployment of approximately 400 Kenyan police to lead the MSS in June and July coincided with a relative respite in major coordinated attacks in the capital. Since the authorization of the MSS on 2 October 2023, there have been numerous challenges delaying the deployment of the estimated 2,500 personnel expected to comprise the force.

ANALYSIS:

Populations living in gang-controlled territory are at heightened risk of grave and widespread human rights abuses, including killings, kidnappings and sexual violence, which may amount to crimes against humanity. The emergence of self-defense movements has resulted in a rise in mob killings and indiscriminate lynching.

The MSS has yet to publicly release information on rules of engagement, human rights due diligence and accountability mechanisms, raising critical human rights and accountability concerns. Gang strongholds are in densely populated areas in and around the capital, heightening risks to civilians should the rules of engagement of the MSS allow for offensive operations.

Insecurity leaves many without access to any public services, exacerbating existing inequalities which fuel patterns of exclusion – a driver of violence and recruitment. As gangs expand their control over strategic resources and key transport routes, they not only hinder freedom of movement but have also become more economically autonomous and powerful. Kidnappings and associated requests for ransom are a vital source of income for gangs to carry out operations and purchase weapons.

The prevalence and spread of gang violence is also fueled by long-standing close ties between gangs and elites, as well as the power vacuum created since the assassination of former President Moïse. For decades, police, politicians and other elites utilized gangs to enforce their authority and provided them with funds, weapons and impunity for abuses.

RISK ASSESSMENT:

• • Proliferation and flow of illicit arms and ammunition to gangs, providing the means for perpetrating abuses and possible atrocities.
  • Grave acts of violence, including forcible recruitment of children, as well as systematic sexual violence, particularly against women and girls.
  • Under resourced and outnumbered police force.
  • Near-complete impunity for violence against civilians, emboldening gang members to perpetrate further abuses.
  • Lack of transparency on the rules of engagement and human rights safeguards of the MSS.

NECESSARY ACTION:

The international community, particularly the United States, must impose stricter measures to prevent the illicit supply, sale, diversion or transfer of small arms, light weapons and ammunitions into Haiti. Those responsible for serious abuses, as well as those providing support to and financing gangs, should be investigated and prosecuted in line with international human rights standards. The UNSC should update the list of individuals and entities subject to sanctions for supporting, preparing, ordering or committing violations or abuses of International Human Rights Law (IHRL), in line with Resolution 2653. The Haitian National Police must vet all its members and remove from service any officers who have colluded with gangs or the Bwa Kale movement.

In cooperation with BINUH and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the MSS must establish an oversight mechanism to prevent human rights violations or abuses, as well as strictly adhere to UN protocols on the prohibition of sexual exploitation and abuse. The UNSC should urge troop-contributing countries and donors to implement a human rights due diligence policy, including child protection training, as well as adequately resource the MSS.

States in the region must end the collective expulsions and forced returns of Haitians and uphold their obligations under IHRL and international refugee law.

The transitional government must utilize a gender-responsive approach across relief and recovery efforts and pursue accountability for sexual and gender-based crimes.