Children and women have become “targets” of gangs in Haiti and are increasingly involved in violent incidents, including murders, injuries, rape and kidnappings, UNICEF reported Thursday.
United Nations data shows that between September 2020 and February 2021, the number of children and women victims of armed attacks allegedly attributed to criminal gangs rose significantly in Haiti, from 45 to 73 incidents, including murders, injuries, rapes and kidnappings.
“Children, girls and women in Haiti are no longer just victims of criminal gangs, they are increasingly being targeted,” warned Jean Gough, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean. area.
Just a few days ago, the UN agency said, gunmen broke into an orphanage and raped two girls aged 13 and 14 and a 27-year-old woman in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince.
36 children were traumatized in this incident, said UNICEF, which, together with Haitian child protection authority IBESR and several NGO partners, provided immediate medical and psychosocial care to the victims and other minors in the orphanage.
“UNICEF strongly condemns this despicable act of violence, demands that the perpetrators be brought to justice and urges the Haitian authorities to redouble their efforts to create alternative options for family care instead of orphanages”, declared the UN entity.
He also called on “all actors not to attack children, adolescents and women” and asked “the new Haitian government to take steps to stop gang violence against children.”
THE GANGS “EXTEND THEIR KINGDOM OF TERROR”
Gough denounced that “week after week, criminal gangs in Haiti are spreading their reign of terror and fear to more families and more communities.”
UNICEF explained that during the 2019-2020 school year, about 60% of all Haitian schools were closed for 60 days due to violent social unrest.
In 2021, “increasing gang violence and insecurity prevented many boys and girls from attending classrooms in various urban areas in and around Port-au-Prince.”
“Gough violence must be stopped,” said Gough, reiterating that “protecting children must be one of the top priorities of the new Haitian government.”
CRISIS IN HAITI
Haiti’s new prime minister, Claude Joseph, was sworn in on Wednesday hours after his predecessor, Joseph Jouthe, resigned.
Joseph, who was Secretary of State, was sworn in without being voted in by Parliament, a procedure required by the constitution, as the Legislative Assembly has been closed since January 2020 – due to the postponement of the planned elections for 2019 – and since then President Jovenel Moise rules by decree.
Haiti is experiencing a new crisis that includes an open confrontation between Moise and the opposition demanding his departure, in addition to a situation of insecurity where armed gangs dominate areas of Port-au-Prince, while the proliferation of kidnappings to demand rescue increases .