A UN report on gang violence in Port-au-Prince has found that the Haitian authorities failed to adequately protect residents of a poor neighbourhood of the capital. The joint report by the UN Human Rights Office and the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (OHCHR- BINUH) examines the outbreak of gang violence in the Bel Air neighbourhood from 4-6 November 2019, which resulted in the deaths of at least three people, with six others injured and 30 families left homeless after their houses were set on fire.

The report, finds that one of the country’s most notorious gang leaders, former police officer Jimmy Cherizier, against whom a warrant was issued in February 2019, was the main actor in the attacks. The report recalls the obligations of the Haitian state with respect to international human rights law to end impunity and the cycle of violence by arresting, prosecuting, investigating alleged perpetrators of human rights violence and abuses. Without a proper process of accountability, the cycle of violence is likely to result in more victims.