Haiti reports a rise in murders and police executions

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — More than 1,740 people were killed or injured in Haiti from July to September, an increase of nearly 30% from the previous quarter, according to the latest figures released by U.N. officials Wednesday. released.

The increase in violence comes as gangs take control of 85% of the capital of Port-au-Prince – up from 80% – while a UN-backed mission led by the Kenyan police to quell gang violence is facing a lack of funding and staff, prompting calls for a UN peacekeeping mission.

“In the absence of state representatives, gangs are increasingly claiming roles typically assigned to the police and the judiciary, while imposing their own rules,” warned the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti, known as BINUH.

The 1,223 killings reported in the third quarter are largely due to gang violence, although law enforcement officials committed at least 106 extrajudicial killings, with victims including six children as young as 10 years old who were accused of passing information to gang members, said BINUH. .

Of the 106 extrajudicial killings, 96 were carried out by police officers and 10 others by Jean Ernest Muscadin, public prosecutor of the southern coastal city of Miragoâne. In total, Muscadin is accused of killing at least 36 people suspected of being gang members or committing “common crimes” since 2022, BINUH said.

A spokesperson for Haiti’s National Police did not respond to requests for comment, while Muscadin declined comment and hung up when reached by phone.

The deaths this quarter include at least 669 people during police operations against gangs, with three-quarters of the victims being suspected gang members and a quarter civilians, the report said.

“The information collected indicates a possible disproportionate use of lethal force and a lack of precautions to protect the public during police operations,” BINUH said.

The number of deaths or injuries between July and September increased by 27% compared to the second quarter, although there was a decrease of 32% compared to the first quarter.

The majority of the killings and injuries — 234 — occurred in Port-au-Prince’s La Saline slum, most in residents’ makeshift homes as gangs battle for control of Haiti’s main port and container terminal, the report said .

Gangs have also recently occupied the communities of Carrefour Gressier in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area, using “extreme brutality to bring residents under their control,” BINUH said.

In one case, a plainclothes police officer was stopped by gang members in mid-August: “He was mutilated and then forced to eat parts of his body before being burned alive.”

At least 122 killings were attributed to self-defense groups which was created last year and have targeted suspected gang members or people accused of crimes including stealing animals or cellphones.

“Victims were mutilated with machetes, stoned, beheaded, burned alive or buried alive,” the report said. “Children were not spared.”

In total, at least 59 children were killed or injured in the third trimester.

Most of the violence continues to be concentrated in the capital Port-au-Prince and the central Artibonite region, where dozens of people were killed in a massacre earlier this month.

One bright spot is that the number of kidnappings during the third trimester fell to 170, compared to earlier this year, with more than 60% of the cases occurring in Artibonite, according to the report.

At least 428 people were kidnapped in the second trimester.

Sexual violence remains widespread, with at least 55 victims reporting gang rape, including girls and women aged 10 to 70, according to the report, which notes that such cases are largely under-reported.

Women and girls are attacked in their homes, while walking on the streets or using public transport, and some are sexually exploited by gang members for months, BINUH said.

Gang violence has left more than 700,000 people homeless in recent years and this month saw a surge in violence, with gunmen tries to take over Solinoone of the last communities in Port-au-Prince not under their control.

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Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico