GENEVA, Aug 19, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - More than 2,400 people have been killed in 
Haiti since the start of 2023 amid rampant gang violence, including hundreds 
killed in lynchings by vigilante mobs, the UN said Friday.

The toll comes as clashes in Haiti's capital of Port-au-Prince this week left 
30 residents dead and more than a dozen wounded.

"Between January 1 and August 15 of this year, at least 2,439 people have 
been killed and a further 902 injured," UN rights office spokeswoman Ravina 
Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.

In addition, she said, "951 people have been kidnapped" during the same 
period.

And as anger grows, she warned that a rise in popular justice movements and 
self-defence groups was fuelling the fire.

"Since April 24 up to mid-August, more than 350 people have been lynched by 
local people and vigilante groups," she said, adding that of those, 310 were 
alleged gang members and one was a police officer.

The remainder were members of the public.

Houses in Port-au-Prince's Carrefour-Feuilles neighbourhood were set on fire 
in the attacks and two police officers also died, according to a provisional 
toll provided to AFP by the National Human Rights Defense Network.

The neighbourhood is a strategic area for the gangs, which control about 80 
percent of Haiti's capital. More than 5,000 people have fled their homes, 
authorities said.

Violent crimes include kidnappings for ransom, carjackings, rapes and armed 
thefts. 

"Reports from Haiti this week have underscored the extreme brutality of the 
violence being inflicted on the population and the impact that it is having 
on their human rights," Shamdasani said.

In the face of the violence, UN rights chief Volker Turk called for urgent 
action to be taken on an appeal for a non-UN multinational force to be sent 
in "to support the Haitian police in addressing the grave security situation 
and restoring the rule of law".

"The human rights of the Haitian people must be protected and their suffering 
alleviated," Turk said.

At the end of July, Kenya announced it was ready to lead a multinational 
force and deploy 1,000 police "to help train and help the Haitian police 
restore normality in the country".

Haiti has been mired for years in intertwining economic, security and 
political crises. 

The assassination of President Jovenel Moise in 2021 has dramatically 
worsened the situation, with gangs taking an increasingly strong hold.

The head of the Haitian National Human Rights Defense Network said that the 
population had been "left to fend for itself". 

"The national police is dysfunctional and is facing leadership problems," 
said Pierre Esperance, criticizing the "highest level connivance" with the 
crime gangs. 

"The Haitian police cannot solve the problem of insecurity because it is part 
of insecurity," he said, noting that the crisis cannot be tackled "without 
tackling the problems of governance, the absence of the rule of law, impunity 
and political instability".