Geneva (AFP) - More than 3,600 people have been killed this year in “senseless” gang violence ravaging Haiti, the United Nations said on Friday.

One of the world’s poorest countries has been plunged into anarchy, with gangs taking over the capital, Port-au-Prince, and the security and health systems collapsing.

About 600,000 people were displaced in the first six months of 2024 and 1,280 were injured in gang violence, including 295 women and 63 children, the UN rights office (OHCHR) said in a report.

At least 893 individuals, including 25 children, were kidnapped and held for ransom by criminal groups, who are vying for power in a vacuum left by political crisis and weak state authority.

“Latest figures documented by the UN Human Rights Office indicate that at least 3,661 people have been killed since January this year, maintaining the high levels of violence seen in 2023,” the office said.

“No more lives should be lost to this senseless criminality,” said Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The OHCHR urged Haitian authorities and the international community to do more to protect people on the Caribbean island.

“We are raising the alarm,” rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva, warning that “illicit flows of arms are continuing to go into Haiti”.

The report described horrific violence.

While some victims were struck by random gunfire, others were executed in broad daylight for allegedly informing authorities of opposing gang activities.

- Fear and subjugation -

“Some of those victims had their bodies mutilated with machetes and then burned.

“Gangs filmed the scenes and shared them widely on social media to instil fear and control the population,” the report said.

The report said gangs used sexual violence “to punish, spread fear and subjugate populations”.

It said at least 860 people were killed and 393 injured during police operations and patrols across Port-au-Prince, including at least 36 children, in what could constitute unnecessary and disproportionate force.

The gangs have also recruited large numbers of children, it added.

An estimated 1.6 million people in Haiti face emergency-level food insecurity.

In October 2023, the UN Security Council approved sending a multinational stabilisation force, led by Kenya, to assist Haitian police.

Kenyan President William Ruto told the UN General Assembly on Thursday his country would complete the deployment of the 2,500-strong Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) by January.

- ‘Wreaking havoc’ -

Approximately 430 MSS personnel have been deployed so far. Besides Kenya, the force includes around 20 soldiers from Jamaica and Belize.

Ruto said Kenya and other African and Caribbean countries were ready to deploy but were being hindered by insufficient equipment, logistics and funding.

Turk said the stabilisation force needed more help.

“I welcome recent positive steps, such as the establishment of a Transitional Presidential Council, the new transitional government and the deployment of the first contingents of the MSS,” he said.

“It is clear, however, that the mission needs adequate and sufficient equipment and personnel to counter the criminal gangs effectively and sustainably, and stop them spreading further and wreaking havoc on people’s lives.”

Turk urged Haitian authorities to reform the police and other state institutions crippled by endemic corruption, including the judiciary.

He said the international community should comprehensively implement the arms embargo, travel ban and asset freeze imposed by the UN Security Council, to stem gang violence.

Shamdasani said that “firearms and ammunitions have continued to enter Haiti through poorly monitored air spaces, unpatrolled coastlines and porous borders, and of course the gangs exploit those gaps”.

“Weapons and ammunition have continued to flow into the country, primarily from the United States, but also from the Dominican Republic and Jamaica,” she said.