PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti (CMC) — A new report on lynching in Haiti has claimed that there has been only one conviction even though more than 400 cases had been reported to law enforcement officials in the French-speaking Caribbean country during the period 2012-2015.

The report prepared by the Human Rights Section of MINUSTAH / United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (HRS), presents and analyses the key elements relating to ‘popular justice’ in Haiti, also known as ‘vigilantism’ or ‘lynching’.

HRS said that this is the first report on this subject and that the phenomenon of lynching is of continuing concern to it.

HRS said that based on statistics and cases it has followed in recent years, “it has been observed that lynching acts have rarely been subject to judicial investigation and even more rarely convicted.

“Indeed, 483 incidents of lynching or lynching attempts reported by MINUSTAH between 2012 and 2015 resulted in 59 arrests only. HRS is aware of only one conviction in a case of lynching.,” the report stated, noting that ‘this passivity, even this tolerance, by State agents in front of serious crimes violates the right to life as guaranteed by international treaties to which Haiti is a party and as protected by national legislation”

The report titled “Taking justice into one’s own hands or the reign of impunity in Haiti”, notes that the main reason given by the population to explain the use of lynching would be a lack of confidence in police and justice, and the fear that perpetrators of crimes enjoy impunity.

“This feeling is linked to the frequent failures of police and judicial authorities to investigate prosecute and punish crimes. Some people then replace these authorities in order to exercise what they consider to be a form of justice. Authorities’ lack of resources to prevent and punish lynching reinforces the phenomenon and suggests that lynching is implicitly an accepted practice.”

However, the analysis of available data shows that the vast majority of cases of lynching occur in urban areas with the highest number of police officers per population.

The analysis of the prison population shows that a large proportion of prisoners is accused of theft, a crime that is the first reason given for committing lynching.

“In a country where crime is generally low, the fact that lynching represents 15 per cent of homicides should worry the authorities. Even if the State can’t be held responsible for each and every crime perpetrated on its territory, it nevertheless has the obligation to take appropriate measures and exercise required diligence to prevent crimes, investigate and punish perpetrators and compensate victims.