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. 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 8,100 killed from 1 January to November 2025 alone. 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. Insecurity has compounded an existing humanitarian crisis, with a record 6.4 Haitians requiring humanitarian assistance and nearly 1.5 million internally displaced.

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. Only an estimated 10 percent of Port-au-Prince remains under government control. Gang violence has also escalated in the Artibonite department. Populations are confined to their neighborhoods as gangs deliberately target civilians, destroy and loot civilian infrastructure, including schools, markets and medical facilities and manipulate aid distribution to depopulate territory and assert control. The Organization of American States’ (OAS) then-Special Adviser on R2P determined in May 2025 that mass killing, rape, torture and enslavement in Haiti 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.

The Haitian National Police (HNP) has lacked the capacity to control or prevent gang violence. Vigilante self-defense groups, formed to protect communities, are increasingly providing operational support to the HNP and are implicated in a growing number of abuses. A pattern of retaliatory violence has emerged as gangs target communities under vigilante protection. In late February 2025 the country’s transitional government (TPC) established a task force that has launched operations targeting gang strongholds. These operations include drone strikes using explosive munitions, resulting in 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. UN Women reports that in makeshift camps, sexual violence – particularly rape – is used to control access to scarce humanitarian aid. Haiti ranks among the five countries with the highest number of child victims of sexual violence. According to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), children comprise up to 50 percent of armed group members.

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. Echoing concerns raised by nearly 200 civil society organizations, the UN Working Group on discrimination against women and girls warned that the systematic exclusion of women from leadership and decision-making roles is deepening insecurity and obstructing prospects for peace.

The multinational response has been insufficient to address the scale, complexity and urgency of the protection crisis. In October 2022 the UN Security Council (UNSC) imposed a sanctions regime and arms embargo aimed at restricting the flow of funds and weapons to gangs. Several governments have also adopted targeted sanctions. The UNSC-mandated Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission, operational since 2024, has been constrained by persistent staffing and funding gaps, limiting its capacity to carrying out its mandate effectively. In response to escalating violence, in September 2025 the UNSC authorized transforming the MSS into a “Gang Suppression Force (GSF)” and established a UN Support Office to provide logistical and operational support. The OAS has developed a roadmap to mobilize support for the GSF, including a detailed plan to address the security and governance crisis.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS:

Gangs continue to launch coordinated deadly assaults across the West, Artibonite and Centre departments, controlling key economic corridors and agricultural regions. Since late December the HNP, supported by international forces and a private military contractor, have carried out significant anti-gang operations, deploying armored vehicles and, increasingly, explosive drones– several of which have caused civilian casualties. Despite some tactical gains, killings remain widespread, especially outside Port-au-Prince, and reprisals against civilians continue.

Two new reports by UNICEF and OHCHR add to the evidence regarding gangs’ growing reliance on children amid escalating violence. In 2025 child recruitment and use increased by 200 percent. While boys are commonly used as lookouts, to carry ammunition and weapons and to guard kidnapping victims, girls are specifically targeted for systematic sexual violence, abduction and sexual slavery, and are forced into domestic labor.

Following the end of the TPC’s mandate in early February, several Haitian political leaders representing major parties and civil society groups signed a pact later recognizing Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé as the sole executive head of the transition. The agreement tasks the government with restoring security and organizing elections – the first in a decade, among other responsibilities. Since former President Moïse’s assassination, Haiti has cycled through competing transition frameworks, deepening mistrust among political elites and the public.

The GSF is expected to deploy around April 2026 and will operate independently of the HNP, with a mandate to “neutralize” gangs, protect vulnerable populations and critical infrastructure and facilitate humanitarian access. To date, 18 countries have pledged personnel to the GSF.

ANALYSIS:

What began as fragmented gang violence has become a coordinated assault on Haitian society. The violence is not random criminality but deliberate, organized and systematic while the scale and systematic nature of the gangs’ predatory tactics pose clear atrocity risks. Gang violence is not merely a security or law enforcement issue; it can create conditions for atrocity crimes and may itself constitute crimes against humanity.

Insecurity has severely limited access to public services, deepening inequalities and fueling exclusion – a driver of violence and recruitment. Gangs function as de facto authorities over large swathes of territory and increasingly operate as criminal armed militias, implementing their own form of governance and regulating daily life. 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 and fragmented leadership since 2021. 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 increased their influence. The ongoing crisis reflects a criminalized political economy in which organized crime, corruption and illicit economies fuel violence.

RISK ASSESSMENT:

• • • Proliferation and availability 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 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.

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 and fund the OAS Roadmap. The OAS must carry out consultations with affected communities and Haitian civil society when designing and implementing Roadmap activities.

The Haitian government must implement prevention and protection measures and guarantee access to health services and legal assistance for survivors of sexual violence, especially in areas where temporary camps are located.

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