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News > Haiti

Haiti: Gang Violence Spike Amid Widespread Insecurity

  • A demonstrator shows his wounds during an anti-governmental protests on October 17 in the capital Port au Prince

    A demonstrator shows his wounds during an anti-governmental protests on October 17 in the capital Port au Prince | Photo: EFE/ Jean Marc Herve

Published 21 October 2020
Opinion

 "In the capital, armed criminal gangs are increasingly undermining state authority and have caused a sharp increase in the number of victims in some neighborhoods," warned the BINUH.

The United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) denounced on Tuesday an upsurge of violence that affects mainly the population as hundreds of families are being relocated to shelters because the gangs have burned their homes.

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"In the capital, armed criminal gangs are increasingly undermining state authority and have caused a sharp increase in the number of victims in some neighborhoods," warned the BINUH in a press release.

"The police force is currently insufficient to perform the tasks incumbent upon them according to international standards, and the main security force of the country is affected by a glaring lack of funding, training, adequate equipment, and specialized vehicles," the BINUH explains.

"The United Nations mobilized in the face of the increase in violence and the proliferation of gangs."

The organization points out that the recent spike in "episodes of violence" occurs in the aftermath of the assassination of Master Monferrier Dorval, President of the Bar of Port-au-Prince, on August 28.

Following the well-known lawyer's homicide, several fathers and mothers, children, students, lawyers, workers, and entrepreneurs have been assassinated, reinforcing the daily fear in many homes, particularly in the neighborhoods of Bel-Air and La Saline.

Moreover, the BINUH denounces that human rights defenders and journalists face death threats for exposing and denouncing injustices. This, as the organization confirms his rejections at the impunity that "currently enjoyed by members of numerous armed gangs."

   

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