(2020-02) Report on Alleged Human Rights Violations and Abuses During the Attacks in the Bel-Air Neighbourhood, Port-au-Prince, 4-6 November 2019
Summary — Joint BINUH-OHCHR report investigating the 4-6 November 2019 attacks in the Bel-Air neighbourhood of Port-au-Prince, examining allegations of state agents' involvement, the absence of a police response, and the human rights concerns arising from the violence.
Key Findings
- Attacks in the Bel-Air neighbourhood from 4 to 6 November 2019 killed and injured residents and destroyed property. The report examined allegations that state representatives were involved in or facilitated the violence. The Haitian National Police did not intervene during the attacks. The report set out the state's obligations to protect, investigate, and ensure accountability.
Full Description
This February 2020 joint report by BINUH and the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) investigates the attacks carried out in the Bel-Air neighbourhood of Port-au-Prince from 4 to 6 November 2019. Based on field investigation, it reconstructs the context and course of the attacks, documents the killings, injuries, and destruction of property inflicted on residents, and examines allegations that state representatives were involved in or facilitated the violence. The report highlights the absence of any intervention by the Haitian National Police during the attacks and reviews the response, or lack of response, of the Haitian authorities in the aftermath. It sets out the resulting human rights concerns, including the state's obligations to protect the population, investigate, and hold perpetrators to account, and issues recommendations to the authorities. The report is an early entry in the series of UN human rights investigations into gang attacks on Port-au-Prince neighbourhoods that would recur through the subsequent years.
Notes
Joint BINUH-OHCHR investigation report; recovered from ReliefWeb attachment; ayitistats wave B