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At least 234 people were killed or injured by gang violence from July 8 to 12 in Haiti’s Cite Soleil, an impoverished and densely populated neighborhood of the capital Port-au-Prince, the United Nations said on Saturday.
The riots broke out between two rival factions, and the city’s ill-equipped and under-staffed police failed to intervene, locking residents in their homes so they could not even fetch food and water.
Since many houses in the slums were built of tin, the residents fell victim to stray bullets. Ambulances could not reach those in need.
“Most of the victims were not directly involved in gangs and were targeted directly by gang elements. We have also received new reports of sexual violence,” said Jeremy Laurence, spokesman for the UN Human Rights Office.
Earlier this week, the National Human Rights Defense Network, a Haitian organization, put the death toll at 89 dead, 16 missing and 74 wounded.
For the six months from January to June, the UN Human Rights Office put the death toll at 934 and another 684 injured. In this period there were also a total of 680 kidnappings, it said.
“We are deeply concerned by the escalation of violence in Port-au-Prince and the increase in human rights abuses by heavily armed gangs against the local population,” Laurence said.
“We call on the authorities to ensure that all human rights are protected and placed at the heart of their response to the crisis.”
The bloodshed in Haiti has been combined with soaring food prices and chronic fuel shortages – a toxic mix that has fueled a brutal downward spiral in security in Port-au-Prince.
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Aid agencies say many areas are inaccessible due to the dangerous conditions.
“We call on those responsible for and supporters of this armed violence to stop it immediately and to respect the lives and livelihoods of all Haitians, most of whom live in extreme poverty,” Laurence said.
Mumuza Muhindo, head of MSF’s local mission, told AFP that his group operated on an average of 15 patients a day during the surge in violence.
“It’s a real battlefield,” Muhindo said. “It is impossible to estimate how many people were killed.”
Cite Soleil is home to an oil terminal that supplies the capital and all of northern Haiti, so the clashes have had a devastating impact on the region’s economy and people’s daily lives.
Petrol stations in Port-au-Prince have no petrol for sale, causing prices on the black market to skyrocket.
“We are seeing a significant increase in hunger in the capital and the south of the country, with Port-au-Prince being the hardest hit,” Jean-Martin Bauer, director of the World Food Program, said on Tuesday.
In recent years, Haiti has seen a wave of mass kidnappings as gangs kidnapped people from all walks of life, including foreigners, off the streets.
Emboldened by police inaction, gangs have grown bolder.
Haiti late Thursday announced a rare seizure of weapons in shipping containers: 18 military weapons, four 9mm handguns, 14,646 rounds of ammunition and $50,000 in counterfeit money.
The following day, the UN Security Council urged member states to ban small arms transfers to the Caribbean nation, but stalled short of a full embargo requested by China.
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