More Than 600 People Killed by Haiti Gang Violence in April, UN says

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- Barbecue, the leader of the "G9 and Family" gang, stands next to garbage to call attention to the conditions people live in as he leads a march against kidnapping through La Saline neighborhood in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Friday, Oct. 22, 2021. Haiti Prime Minister Ariel Henry and 18 top-ranking officials have requested on the second week of Oct. 2022, the immediate deployment of foreign armed troops as gangs and protesters paralyze the country. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph, File)
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Police patrol the streets of Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, on April 25, 2023.
Police patrol the streets of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, on April 25, 2023. © Ralph Tedy Erol, Reuters

More than 600 people were killed last month in violence in the capital of Haiti, which is in the grip of a political-economic crisis, the United Nations said on Monday.

“In the month of April alone, more than 600 people were killed in a new wave of extreme violence that hit several districts across the capital,” said the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

“This follows the killing of at least 846 people in the first three months of 2023, in addition to 393 injured and 395 kidnapped during that period – a 28-percent increase in violence on the previous quarter.”

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

The Haitian capital is one of the most dangerous places in the Western hemisphere. The informal economy, as in much of the region, is predominant.
The Haitian capital is one of the most dangerous places in the Western hemisphere. The informal economy, as in much of the region, is predominant. © Sandrine Exil

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

(AFP)

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