Since January, the Office has joined the UN in Haiti (Binuh), has recorded more than 4,000 people deliberately killed – an increase of 24% compared to the same period in 2024.
“The capital was for all useful purposes paralyzed by gangs and isolated due to the current suspension of international commercial flights to the international airport,” Miroslav Jenča, deputy secretary general for the Americas in the Department of Political Affairs (DPPA), told the security council ambassadors on Wednesday.
After visiting the country recently, he warned that the gangs have only “strengthened their foot” which now affects all the municipalities of the metropolitan region of Port-au-Prince and beyond, “bringing the situation on the edge”.
He called on the international community to act in a decisive and urgent manner or “the total collapse of the presence of the State in the capital could become a very real scenario”.
Gang Control develops
Ghada Fathi Waly, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), echoed this warning.
“As the gang control develops, the state’s ability to govern is quickly shrinking, with social, economic and security implications,” she told ambassadors, informed from Vienna.
“This erosion of state legitimacy has cascade effects,” she said, legal trade becoming paralyzed while gangs control major commercial roads, such conditions aggravating “already disastrous levels of food insecurity and humanitarian need,” she added.
Rise of “justification” groups
In the midst of the frustration of the growing public with regard to the limited protection capacity of the State, the groups of “justicular” or self -defense are now gaining popular attraction.
Although some are motivated by the urgent need to protect their communities, many operate outside of existing legal frameworks, in some cases, to engage in extrajudicial actions and to end with gangs.
The rise of these actors pushes the demand for firearms and military quality weapons, “fuel the illicit arms markets and increase the risk of diverting lawful weapons towards criminal elements,” said Waly.
Human beings
Meanwhile, the broader deterioration of security and the economic situation in the capital and the rest of the country continues to fuel a clearer escalation in human rights violations.
Despite the persistent sub-declaration of sexual violence due to fear of reprisals, social stigma and lack of confidence in institutions, Binuh has reported an increase in sexual violence committed by gangs in the last three months.
In May, the Haitian police went down to a medical establishment in Pétion-Ville suspected of being involved in the illicit trade in organs, as allegations of trafficking for people for the end of organs occur.
While the situation in Haiti remains desperate, “there is not a while to lose,” said Jenča.
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