(2023-09) Findings of the Appointed Expert on the Situation of Human Rights in Haiti (A/HRC/54/79) (Advance Unedited Version)

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) • 2023 • 16 pages

Summary — First findings of William O'Neill, the OHCHR-appointed human rights expert on Haiti, assessing gang violence, the humanitarian crisis, dysfunctional justice and prisons, corruption and vigilantism, with recommendations to the State and international community.

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Key Findings

Gangs control most of the capital and outlying areas and have attacked police stations and the Palace of Justice; more than 32 Haitian National Police officers were killed in 2023 and kidnappings rose 300 percent in the first quarter compared with a year earlier. A record 4.9 million people, about half the population, faced acute hunger in March-June 2023, while inflation reached 49.3 percent in January 2023 and basic food prices rose by as much as 87 percent in a year. Nearly 90 percent of Haitians live below the poverty line, government health spending is about 1 percent of GDP, and Haiti ranks 171st of 180 on the 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index. The expert recommends a specialized international police force with independent oversight, an arms embargo and stronger integrity vetting across State institutions.

Full Description

This report transmits to the Human Rights Council the findings of William O'Neill, designated on 12 April 2023 as the expert on the situation of human rights in Haiti under Council resolution 52/39, following his first official visit on 19 and 20 June 2023. The expert finds the situation dire but not hopeless: gangs have morphed from politician-hired militias into largely self-funded groups controlling most of the capital, attacking police stations and the Palace of Justice, and relying on kidnapping ransoms, with weapons trafficked mainly from the United States. He documents the humanitarian toll, including a record 4.9 million people facing acute hunger, inflation of 49.3 percent in January 2023, attacks on hospitals, and the Bwa Kale vigilante phenomenon, and traces the crisis to poverty, inequality, corruption and chronic underfunding of health, education and water services. Recommendations cover strengthening integrity and vetting in State institutions, protecting women and children, deploying a specialized international police force under human rights safeguards, an arms embargo, and support to anti-corruption bodies.

Topics

Geography

Time Coverage

2023-01 — 2023-09

Keywords

A/HRC/54/79, OHCHR, Human Rights Council, William O'Neill, gang violence, kidnapping, Bwa Kale, corruption, food insecurity, arms trafficking, prisons, rule of law

Entities

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Human Rights Council, William O'Neill, BINUH, Haitian National Police, UNODC, World Bank, Transparency International, Doctors Without Borders, Albert Schweitzer hospital, Bureau des Avocats Internationaux, Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti

Notes

UN document A/HRC/54/79; ayitistats wave B; HR mandate-holder findings (appointed expert William O'Neill)