Populations in Haiti are facing possible atrocity crimes due to widespread violence and systematic abuses by armed gangs. 

BACKGROUND:

Since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021, violence has intensified in Haiti, particularly in Port-au-Prince, where armed gangs have proliferated, perpetrating widespread abuses with near-total impunity. Around 300 criminal groups are active, and experts estimate 270,000 to 500,000 firearms are in illegal circulation, the majority of which are controlled by gangs. According to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), over 16,000 people have been killed and 7,000 injured since January 2022, including more than 4,006 killed and 1,617 injured from 1 January until 31 August alone.

Violence has intensified and spread since late February 2024, when two of the largest gang coalitions, G9 and Gpèp, formed an alliance known as Viv Ansanm and launched a coordinated offensive targeting civilian infrastructure across Port-au-Prince. Approximately 10 percent of Port-au-Prince remains under government control. Gang violence has also escalated in the Artibonite department, with populations facing near-daily attacks and abuses. As rival gang clashes have decreased, targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure, including schools, medical facilities and humanitarian organizations, has increased. Populations are confined to their neighborhoods, facing indiscriminate violence, rape, torture, kidnappings and forced recruitment and child trafficking.

The Haitian National Police (HNP) has lacked the capacity to control or prevent gang violence. Vigilante self-defense groups, originally formed to protect communities, are increasingly providing operational support to the HNP. These groups are also implicated in a growing number of abuses, while gangs retaliate by targeting under vigilante protection, fueling cycles of retaliatory violence. In late February 2025 the country’s governing Transitional Presidential Council (TPC) established a task force which has launched operations targeting gang strongholds, including drone strikes using explosive munitions, which have led to civilian harm and human rights violations.

The crisis has had devastating effects on women and children. UN officials and experts report the deliberate, systematic and pervasive use of sexual violence, including collective rape, sexual slavery and mutilation, by gangs as a means of exerting territorial control and to punish communities. Haiti ranks among the five countries with the highest number of child victims of sexual violence. According to the UN Children’s Fund, children comprise up to 50 percent of armed group members. The UN documented nearly a fivefold increase in grave violations against children during 2024, leading the Secretary-General to add Viv Ansanm to the listed annex of perpetrators in the annual report on Children and Armed Conflict.

Insecurity has compounded an existing humanitarian crisis. A record 5.7 million people face acute food insecurity, and over 1.4 million are internally displaced. Despite life-threatening risks, more than 207,000 Haitians have been forcibly repatriated since January 2025. UN Women reports that in makeshift camps, sexual violence – particularly rape – is used to control access to scarce humanitarian aid.

The security situation has worsened due to protracted political deadlock, as well as a dysfunctional judiciary and the absence of legitimate executive or legislative bodies. Although the TPC was installed in April 2024; however, corruption allegations have further eroded public trust in the government. Echoing concerns raised by nearly 200 civil society organizations, the UN Working Group on discrimination against women and girls warned in November 2025 that the systematic exclusion of women from leadership and decision-making roles is deepening insecurity and obstructing prospects for peace.

In response to the crisis, the UN Security Council (UNSC) imposed a sanctions regime and arms embargo in October 2022 to curb the flow of funds and weapons to gangs. Several governments also introduced targeted sanctions.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS:

In recent months, gangs have launched coordinated deadly assaults across the West, Artibonite and Centre departments. As their control gradually spreads across the country, rural communities have increasingly become targets of indiscriminate attacks. Nearly two-thirds of new displacements have occurred in the Centre and Artibonite departments, highlighting the growing impact of gang violence in rural areas.

Following months of escalating violence, in September the UNSC authorized the transformation of the Multinational Security Support Mission, led by Kenya, into a “Gang Suppression Force (GSF).” The GSF operates independently, with a mandate to conduct operations to “neutralize” gangs, protect vulnerable populations and critical infrastructure and facilitate humanitarian access. A UN Support Office will be established to provide logistical and operational support.

In May the Organization of American States (OAS) then-Special Adviser on R2P determined that violations, including mass killing, rape, torture and enslavement, constitute crimes against humanity due to the coordinated and widespread nature, the organizational policy to instill fear and control populations and gangs hierarchical command, supported by transnational arms pipelines. In August the OAS presented a Roadmap for Stability and Peace in Haiti, providing a detailed plan aiming to address the security and governance crisis, as well as enhance international and regional cooperation.

ANALYSIS:

Populations in gang-controlled territory face heightened risks of widespread human rights abuses, including killings, kidnappings and sexual violence, which may amount to crimes against humanity. Civilians and civilian infrastructure have increasingly become the deliberate targets of their abuses as gangs have shifted their actions from inter-group clashes to perpetrating a strategic campaign to dismantle state institutions, instill fear and tighten control.

Insecurity has severely limited access to public services, deepening inequalities and fueling exclusion – a driver of violence and recruitment. In gang-controlled areas, gangs function as de facto authorities, implementing their own form of governance and regulating daily life. They extort farmers and traders, undermining livelihoods, while their control of key resources and transport routes has increased their autonomy and economic power – often through extortion and drug and arms trafficking.

The prevalence of gang violence is partly fueled by long-standing ties between gangs and elites, as well as the power vacuum following former President Moïse’s assassination. For decades, police, politicians and other elites utilized gangs to enforce their authority and provided them with funding, weapons and impunity. The unification under Viv Ansanm has transformed gangs into a more unified and strategically effective force and boosted their financial and political influence. The ongoing crisis reflects a criminalized political economy in which organized crime, corruption and illicit economies fuel violence.

RISK ASSESSMENT:

• • • Proliferation and flow of illicit arms and ammunition, fueling violence and providing the means for perpetrating abuses.
    • Grave acts of violence, including forcible recruitment of children, as well as systematic sexual violence, particularly against women and girls.
    • Without clear rules of engagement, the GSF risks perpetuating civilian harm due to the high density of gang-controlled territory, difficulty of urban warfare and large presence of children forcibly recruited.
    • Near-complete impunity for past and ongoing crimes.
    • The use of aerial weapons in the densely populated areas.

NECESSARY ACTION:

The international community, particularly the United States, must impose stricter measures to prevent the illicit supply, sale, diversion or transfer of small arms, light weapons and ammunitions into Haiti. Those responsible for serious abuses, as well as providing support to and financing gangs, should be investigated and prosecuted. The UNSC should update the list of individuals and entities subject to sanctions for supporting, preparing, ordering or committing violations or abuses of International Human Rights Law (IHRL). The HNP must vet all its members and remove any officers who have colluded with gangs or vigilante brigades.

In cooperation with the UN Integrated Office in Haiti, OHCHR and civil society, the GSF must effectively implement and comply with robust human rights safeguards, monitoring mechanisms and accountability measures. International and regional partners should urgently provide sufficient personnel and resources for the GSF, as well as fund the OAS Roadmap. The OAS must carry out consultations with affected communities and Haitian civil society when designing and implementing Roadmap activities.

States in the region must end the collective expulsions and forced returns of Haitians.