Unless Haiti’s prime minister, Ariel Henry, resigns, the gang leader behind the violence in the capital has threatened a “civil war”.
Jimmy “Barbecue” Chérizier threatened as his gang tried to capture the capital’s airport to prevent Mr. Henry from returning from abroad.
Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, called it “beyond untenable.”
Thousands of Haitians fled.
Aid agencies report that 15,000 people, including many children, have been relocated in recent weeks.
According to Mr. Türk, “a staggering 1,193 people have been killed and 692 others injured by gang violence.”
He asked the world to “act swiftly and decisively to prevent Haiti’s further descent into chaos.”
The US wants Mr. Henry to “expedite” a transition.
During a transition, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller called for “a multinational security support mission” to “pave the way for free and fair elections.”
He said the US wanted Mr. Henry to “make concessions in the interest of the Haitian people” but was not “pushing for him to resign.”
Mr. Henry boarded a charter aeroplane in New Jersey late on Tuesday after days of being missing.
When Mr. Henry arrived at Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport in San Juan, heavily armed police were on guard.
Mr. Henry wanted to land in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, but the airport was closed due to gangs’ attempts to seize it and the Dominican Republic turned the jet away, so he landed in Puerto Rico.
Haitian media claim that Mr. Henry is considering alternative methods back into the nation as diplomatic pressure mounts to accede to a transitional government.
Jimmy “Barbecue” Chérizier warned Tuesday that “if Ariel Henry does not resign… we’ll be heading straight for a civil war that will lead to genocide.”
The G9 group he leads has incited police station attacks and the storming of the country’s two biggest jails. A major jailbreak on Saturday freed thousands of convicts.
Haiti has suffered from gang violence for years. Barbecue worsened the issue last week while Prime Minister Henry was in Kenya.
Mr. Henry wanted Kenya to lead an international police operation to end Haitian violence.
Barbecue worries Mr. Henry will use force to stay in power.
The gang leader has resisted the prime minister since he gained power without an election in July 2021, following the killing of President Jovenel Moïse.
Critics call Mr. Henry’s rule illegitimate. They also note that he has not held presidential elections two and a half years after taking office, as promised.
The prime minister has not commented since the violence. He just retweeted his minister’s state of emergency declaration in his absence.
The long-term goals of gang leader Barbecue are unclear. Tuesday, Obama asked Haitians “to unite.”
“Either Haiti becomes a paradise for all of us or a hell for all of us,” he told media in a bulletproof vest.
He has proposed a “council of elders,” a regional civil society group, to replace the prime minister.
Haiti has no elected officials. The country hasn’t had elections since 2016.
Gangs, thought to control 80% of the capital, have filled the political vacuum.
Ransom kidnappings are prevalent, forcing schools and hospitals to close.
Ulrika Richardson, UN Chief Humanitarian Coordinator in Haiti, told BBC Newshour that “people are very afraid.”
Ms. Richardson said violence was “indiscriminately against people, against women, against children, and that includes sexual violence.”
“We see cadavers in the streets; we hear direct accounts of the atrocities that women and many children have been exposed to,” she told BBC.
Violence has mostly occurred in the capital and surrounding areas. Shootings in southwest Jeremie and a prison riot in southern Jacmel have also been reported.
Later Wednesday, the UN Security Council will have an extraordinary meeting to discuss the bloodshed.
