P-to-P, June 17, 2024 [AlterPresse] — From January to December 2023, (a number of) 383 serious violations were committed against 307 children, some of whom were used in gang attacks against the police and raped by bandits.
This information is provided by the United Nations (UN), in a report made public this Monday, June 17, 2024 and consulted by the online agency AlterPresse.
Among the 307 children – including 160 boys, 117 girls and 30 of unknown sex – 32 were victims of multiple violations, specifies the UN in this report dated June 3, 2024.
While expressing deep concern about the indiscriminate violence of armed gangs in Haiti, the UN condemns the serious violations against children, in particular murders, kidnappings and sexual violence.
23 children (17 boys, 6 girls) were recruited and used by gangs
armed with Brooklyn/Cité Soleil (5), Grand Ravin (4), Village of God gang 5 Seconds (4), “Elevator Team” (2), Baz Great Grif de Savien/Artibonite (1), 400 Marozo/Croix-des-Bouquets (1), Force Résistance Chandelle (1) and Belekou/Cité Soleil (1), as well as by unidentified armed gangs (4), she underlines.
The UN reports cases of children used in attacks against the Haitian National Police (PNH) or tortured and burned alive by armed gangs Baz Great Grif by Savien and Force Résistance Chandelle.
Girls were used for sexual exploitation, she adds.
The UN mentions the murders of 128 children and attacks on the physical integrity of 78 others by armed gangs, during crossfire between these gangs and the Pnh.
“These losses (of human lives) are mainly due to stray bullets (125) and targeted killings (62), including cases of children being gang raped or burned alive in reprisals.”
41 girls suffered acts of sexual violence, including rape, gang rape and cases of sexual slavery, by armed gangs, notes the United Nations.
The UN recommends exempting staff from the next Multinational Security Support Mission (Mmas) in Haiti, appropriate training in child protection.
She calls for accelerating the deployment of this multinational force, to help the Haitian National Police (PNH) restore security in Haiti, as authorized by the UN Security Council.
In an alert at the beginning of June, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) urged the international community to accelerate efforts to protect childrentrapped in the violence of armed gangs in Haiti.
Unicef calls for ensuring that the internationally supported security mission “prioritizes the protection of children and the safety of civilians, and is committed to upholding humanitarian law and obtaining the space necessary for humanitarian interventions.
It encourages support for “initiatives to prevent and end serious violations against children, including by ensuring the protection of schools, hospitals and other facilities on which children depend, as well as the preservation of humanitarian spaces”.
More than 578,000 people are currently displaced in Haiti, due to the escalation of armed gang violenceaccording to figures published by the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Between March and June 2024, the number of displaced people increased by 60%, from 362,000 to more than 578,000 at the start of June 2024, records the IOM. [emb rc apr 17/06/2024 15:30]
