Amid continuing gang warfare and a vacuum of law and order, Haiti is “on the verge of an abyss” said the UN human rights chief Volker Türk on Thursday, warning that any hope of a sustainable recovery requires “urgent and sustained action” to tackle the root causes of the overlapping crises afflicting the island nation.
The High Commissioner said the Haitian Government also needed to provide a firm commitment to accountability, and the rule of law, after decades of “systematic corruption and rampant impunity”, which have led up to the country’s current paralysis.
He warned Haiti has descended into the worst human rights and humanitarian situation in decades. Urgent solutions to this “protracted, multifaceted crisis” must be found, he stressed.
“People are being killed by firearms, they are dying because they do not have access to safe drinking water, food, healthcare, women are being gang raped with impunity. The levels of insecurity and the dire humanitarian situation have been devastating for the people of Haiti,” Mr. Türk said.
For the last two months, heavily armed gangs have been blockading access to the country’s main fuel terminal and seaports, severely hampering access to drinking water, food and medicine.
Food insecurity is on the rise, with a record 4.7 million – nearly half of the population – facing acute hunger. Poor sanitation and lack of safe water supplies have led to a so far uncontrolled cholera outbreak.
To date, 2,600 suspected cases of cholera have been reported, half of them children, and claimed dozens of lives.
Gang violence continues to expand across the capital and in other regions of the country.
