Haiti: murders increased by 50% in the first quarter, warns the UN
Cairo: Hani Kamal El-Din
A disastrous situation. The first quarter of 2024 was the most violent since at least the beginning of 2022 in Haiti, a Caribbean country ravaged by gangs, revealed the UN Friday April 19. Murders have notably increased by 50%.
In detail, 1,660 people (1,347 men, 273 women and 40 children) were killed and 845 were injured (624 men, 179 women and 42 children), a spokesperson for the mission told AFP. . The results for the last quarter of 2023 showed 1,104 murders and 532 injuries.
Not all of the recorded killings concern civilians. According to the report, 141 of the victims were killed in the first quarter by “self-defense” groups who, since spring 2023, have targeted people designated as gang members.
Kidnapping for ransom, on the other hand, fell by 37% across the country, with at least 438 people kidnapped, most of them in the Artibonite department, where gangs attack travelers on public transport. They also continued to resort to sexual violence against residents of “rival” neighborhoods, underlines the report, denouncing in particular the collective rapes suffered by young girls.
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