These statistics account for a rise of more than 1,000 homicides compared to the total for 2023. In addition, 2,212 people were injured and 1,494 were kidnapped, the Office said.

“These figures alone cannot capture the absolute horrors that are perpetrated in Haiti, but they show the incessant violence to which the population is subjected,” United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk stated.

According to information posted on the UN Human Rights Office’s website, in one of the deadliest and most shocking incidents in 2024, at least 207 people were killed in early December in a massacre orchestrated by the leader of the powerful Wharf Jérémie gang in the Cité Soleil area of Port-au-Prince.

Many of the victims were elderly people accused of killing the leader’s son through alleged voodoo practices and, to erase the evidence, the gang members mutilated and burned most of the bodies, while others were thrown into the sea, it said.

Likewise, the UN Human Rights Office documented 315 lynchings of gang members and people allegedly associated with gangs, in some cases probably facilitated by Haitian police officers.

Last year, in addition, there were 281 cases of alleged summary executions in which specialized police units participated, the report noted.

“It has long been clear that impunity for human rights violations and abuses, as well as corruption, remain prevalent in Haiti and are some of the main drivers of the multidimensional crisis that affects the country, along with deep-rooted economic and social inequalities,” Türk said.

“Restoring the rule of law must be a priority. To this end, the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti needs the logistical and financial support it requires to successfully implement its mandate,” he added.

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