UNITED NATIONS (CMC)— The United Nations is reporting that 5,000 homicides were recorded in Haiti last year, more than double that in 2022 in the French-speaking Caribbean Community (Caricom) country, where criminal gangs have been involved in violent attempts to overthrow the government.

“I am appalled by the staggering and worsening level of gang violence devastating the lives of Haitians, in particular in Port-au-Prince,” said UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres in the report, adding “gang killings, kidnappings and sexual violence, notably against women and young girls, among other abuses , continue with widespread impunity.”

“It is difficult to overstate the gravity of the political, security, human rights and humanitarian situation in Haiti today,” Guterres said.

According to the UN report released on Tuesday, a total of 4,789 homicides were registered in 2023, an increase of 119.4 per cent over the previous year.

“In the same vein, the number of victims of kidnapping rose from 1,359 reported in 2022 to 2,490 in 2023, representing an 83 per cent increase,” it said.

Haiti has seen years of declining security due to raging gang violence, with its political, economic and public health systems also in tatters. The country has been without a president since the incumbent, Jovenel Moise was assassination in July 2021.

Last October, The UN Security Council approved the deployment of a multinational mission to support Haiti’s overwhelmed police force, which Kenya agreed to lead.

The Kenyan parliament approved the deployment of 1,000 police officers in November, but the mission has been delayed pending a decision by the country’s high court, which is due to rule on the issue by January 26.

The UN report said that one in 10 police stations nationwide had been attacked through the year, while many of the police’s armored vehicles were left inoperable after clashes with gang members, who often donned fake police uniforms to carry out kidnappings.