The number of those killed has increased by more than 20% compared to 2023. In addition, more than 2,200 people were injured and about 1,500 were abducted last year, according to a report by the UN Human Rights Office.
“These numbers alone cannot reflect the absolute horrors that are being carried out in Haiti, but they do show the constant violence that people are being subjected to,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Tirk said in a statement.
The victims include two journalists and a policeman, who were killed when gunmen opened fire on Christmas Eve on a crowd gathered for the reopening of Haiti’s largest public hospital. Gangs had forced the closure of this hospital.
Gang violence has left more than 700,000 Haitians homeless in recent years.
Last year’s victims include more than 200 people killed in a gang-controlled slum in early December when a gang leader tried to avenge the death of his son in voodoo rituals. It was one of the biggest massacres in Port-au-Prince’s recent history.
Among those killed last year were 315 bandits or people associated with them who were lynched, and more than 280 people who were killed by the police.
Source: www.diena.lv
