57th Session Of The HR Council Interactive Dialogue On Haiti: Statement By UN High Commissioner For Human Rights

8 October 2024

Madam Vice President,

Excellencies,

Distinguished delegates,

Yet again, I must report on the deeply distressing situation in Haiti. Only last week, in the latest symptomatic horror, gang members entered a neighbourhood of Pont Sondé in the dead of night, setting fire to houses and gunning down residents as they fled. At least 70 people were killed, including three small babies.

The magnitude of the chaotic violence inflicted on the population between the end of February and the beginning of July this year is outlined in the report before you. The Designated Expert of my Office, Bill O'Neill, visited Haiti last month, and his observations confirm the continued gravity of the situation.

I am convinced that the security crisis, the rule of law crisis, and the governance crisis that Haitians are enduring can be resolved.

Crucial to that effort must be full implementation of the Security Council's arms embargo to prevent the supply of firearms and ammunition to non-State actors in Haiti, as well as its targeted asset freeze and travel ban. The embargo is mandatory, and it was adopted unanimously – most recently in October 2023. It is due to be renewed on 18 October. I strongly encourage passage of this important set of measures, and I urge all States – including all Security Council Member States – to enforce every aspect in full.

Weapons and ammunition are not manufactured in Haiti. They flow in from businesses elsewhere. States must do more to enforce in full the Security Council's embargo on weapons exporters operating in or from their territory. This is leading to thousands of killings, massive displacement, the complete destruction of the economy, and horrific suffering.

My Office has documented targeted killings and random shootings, including of children, by members of increasingly powerful criminal gangs; mass kidnappings; the forced recruitment, exploitation and trafficking of children; as well as the burning and looting of residences and businesses. Gender-based violence, including sexual violence, has reached new peaks of brutality and scale, with my Office documenting collective rapes among other horrors. The number of internally displaced people in the country has risen by 95 per cent since March, to 703,000 – almost 6 per cent of the population.

Attacks against hospitals; banks; police stations; schools; the main seaport and airport in the capital; and gangs' control of roads have further disrupted the provision of essential services, with lethal humanitarian impact. Over 4.9 million people are experiencing acute food insecurity; in other words, well over one-third of the population are suffering severe undernourishment, reflected in wasting and starvation. Three million Haitian children are in need of humanitarian aid.

Mr President,

I welcome last week's renewal by the Security Council of the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission. It is also absolutely crucial to ensure that the MSS mission, led by Kenya, is given adequate resources and support. All security operations – including those conducted jointly by the MSS mission and the Haitian police – need to comply fully with international law, including international human rights law, and they need to be accountable.

My Office is supporting the development and implementation of the compliance mechanism requested by the Security Council. Together with the MSS mission, we are organising briefings for personnel with command responsibility regarding international standards on the use of force; preventing sexual exploitation and abuse; and a principled approach to issues involving children associated with gangs. My staff is assisting the MSS mission to establish a complaint mechanism for local communities, and we will continue to work with UN partners to develop a Human Rights Due Diligence Policy mechanism. As mandated by the Security Council, we will also continue to support the Haitian authorities, and to monitor and verify alleged human rights violations, including any allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse.

More broadly, it is also vital to strengthen governance and State institutions, in particular the justice, police and penitentiary sector. In addition, work must begin to address the country's pervasive inequalities and poverty.

I commend the new transitional Government's inclusion of key human rights commitments in its roadmap of policy. Its plans for concrete action to tackle corruption and other human rights violations include specialized judicial units to help combat mass crimes such as sexual violence, as well as financial crimes. The enduring prevalence of corrupt practices, particularly within State institutions, is profoundly destabilising, and action in this respect is urgently needed.

Mr President,

Haiti is a small country of immense importance to our world.

In terms of human rights, we can never forget its revolution against slavery and colonial oppression, surely one of the most inspiring chapters in human history.

The extraordinary creativity of Haitian culture, and the ingenuity and determination of so many Haitian individuals, have driven outsized contributions to the economies and societies of many States.

It pains me to see the deportations, mistreatment, and hateful and racist smears that target Haitians in some countries of the region. Haitians have the same rights to live free from violence, fear and misery as every person of every other nationality.

In a country of less than 28,000 square kilometres – less than 65% of the size of Switzerland – addressing the current crisis is not an outsized challenge, in either strategy or cost. On the contrary: each facet of Haiti's current crisis can be addressed, and can be resolved.

Haiti will always be able to count on the support of my Office.

Thank you

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