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STORY: UN / HAITI HUMAN RIGHTS
TRT: 03:06
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 11 MARCH 2025, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior UN Headquarters
11 MARCH 2025, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, press room dais
3. Wide shot, journalists
4. SOUNDBITE (English) William O’Neill, High Commissioner for Human Rights' Designated Expert on Human Rights in Haiti, United Nations:
“Despite the efforts of the Haitian National Police and the Multinational Security Support Mission, the risk of the capital falling under gang control is palpable. These violent criminal groups continued to extend and consolidate their hold even beyond the capital. They kill, rape, terrorize, set fire to homes, orphanages, schools, hospitals, places of worship; they recruit children, and they infiltrate all spheres of society. All this with the utmost impunity. And sometimes as many sources point out, with the complicity of powerful actors.”
5. Wide shot, press room dais
6. SOUNDBITE (English) William O’Neill, High Commissioner for Human Rights' Designated Expert on Human Rights in Haiti, United Nations:
“The violence has internally displaced over one million people, and thousands more have been displaced just in the last few weeks. They have nowhere to go. Students recently throw stones at IDPs, internally displaced persons, who are attempting to occupy their school. The desperate turning against the even more desperate. In the makeshift camps, hunger and sexual violence are widespread. For many, it's a matter of survival.”
7. Wide shot, press room dais
8. SOUNDBITE (English) William O’Neill, High Commissioner for Human Rights' Designated Expert on Human Rights in Haiti, United Nations:
“The fight against impunity and corruption are major obstacles to dismantling gangs. The Haitian state must, therefore, must make the fight against these two scourges an absolute priority. The fight against the gangs must be conducted also in strict compliance with international human rights law, particularly the right to life. No circumstances, however exceptional, can justify the violation of this fundamental right. The international community, for its part, must act without delay to implement the commitments it has already made, particularly with regard to the sanctions regime, to the arms embargo and the substantial reinforcement of the Multinational Security Support Mission, all done in compliance with international rights law.”
9. Wide shot, press room dais
10. SOUNDBITE (English) William O’Neill, High Commissioner for Human Rights' Designated Expert on Human Rights in Haiti, United Nations:
“There's nowhere near enough Haitian police, and they don't have the right equipment either in terms of being able to move around at night and effectively. So, that's a big challenge right now, but I don't think it's insuperable. We're not talking about thousands and thousands of whatever, but just total of 2500 international police. Get a few more Haitian national police, but also with the right equipment. I think you could have a huge impact on the gangs.”
11. Wide shot, end of briefing
The High Commissioner for Human Rights' Designated Expert on Human Rights in Haiti, William O’Neill, today (11 Mar) told journalists in New York that the risk of the capital, Port-au-Prince “falling under gang control is palpable.”
O’Neill said that despite efforts of the Haitian National Police and the Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS), “these violent criminal groups continued to extend and consolidate their hold even beyond the capital. They kill, rape, terrorize, set fire to homes, orphanages, schools, hospitals, places of worship; they recruit children, and they infiltrate all spheres of society. All this with the utmost impunity. And sometimes as many sources point out, with the complicity of powerful actors.”
The human rights expert said, “violence has internally displaced over one million people, and thousands more have been displaced just in the last few weeks. They have nowhere to go,” and added that “hunger and sexual violence are widespread” in the makeshift camps.
O’Neill told journalists that “the fight against impunity and corruption are major obstacles to dismantling gangs,” and the Haitian state “must make the fight against these two scourges an absolute priority.”
The fight against gangs, he cautioned, “must be conducted also in strict compliance with international human rights law, particularly the right to life,” and “no circumstances, however exceptional, can justify the violation of this fundamental right.”
O’Neill called on the international community to “act without delay to implement the commitments it has already made, particularly with regard to the sanctions regime, to the arms embargo and the substantial reinforcement of the Multinational Security Support Mission, all done in compliance with international rights law.”
Responding to a journalist’s question, he said, “there's nowhere near enough Haitian police, and they don't have the right equipment either in terms of being able to move around at night and effectively. So, that's a big challenge right now, but I don't think it's insuperable. We're not talking about thousands and thousands of whatever, but just total of 2500 international police. Get a few more Haitian national police, but also with the right equipment. I think you could have a huge impact on the gangs.”
In October 2022, the Haitian government appealed for the immediate deployment of an “international specialised force” to temporarily reinforce the efforts of the Haitian National Police (HNP) to combat gangs. In July 2023, ten months after Haiti’s initial request, Kenya agreed to lead a multinational force to the country, pledging to deploy 1,000 police officers. At least nine other countries—primarily from Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean—subsequently stated their intention to participate in the force.
As of today, the MMS remains severely understaffed.
