GENEVA, Switzerland (CMC) — The United Nations (UN) Human Rights Office (OHCHR), Friday said that more than 3,500 people have been killed in Haiti since the start of this year, reiterating that tackling insecurity in the country must be a priority.

In a new report on Haiti, where hundreds have been killed, injured, or displaced as a result of gang violence, the OHCHR called on the Haitian authorities and the international community to do more to protect people and prevent further suffering.

Latest figures documented by the UN Human Rights Office indicate that at least 3,661 people have been killed since January this year, maintaining the high levels of violence seen in 2023.

“No more lives should be lost to this senseless criminality,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk.

“I welcome recent positive steps, such as the establishment of a Transitional Presidential Council, the new transitional government, and the deployment of the first contingents of the (Kenya-led) Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS).

“It is clear, however, that the mission needs adequate and sufficient equipment and personnel to counter the criminal gangs effectively and sustainably, and stop them spreading further and wreaking havoc on people’s lives,” said Türk.

To date, an advance contingent of approximately 430 MSS personnel has been deployed in Haiti. The UN Human Rights Office is supporting the MSS to establish and implement a compliance mechanism to ensure the mission’s operational framework and practice are aligned with international human rights standards and any potential violations are effectively addressed, in line with the UN Security Council resolution.

The report, which covers the period up to June, details extremely serious patterns of human rights violations and abuses taking place across the capital of Port-au- Prince and in the Artibonite Department, as well as in the southern part of West Department, which until recently had been largely unaffected by the violence.

The number of victims of sexual violence, including rape, also increased in the first half of the year. According to the report, “gangs have continued to use sexual violence to punish, spread fear and subjugate populations”.

During the reporting period, at least 860 people were killed and 393 injured during police operations and patrols across Port-au-Prince, including at least 36 children, in what could constitute use of unnecessary and disproportionate force. The gangs have also recruited large numbers of children into their ranks.

In Artibonite, the country’s agricultural heartland, increasing gang violence and extortion have forced farmers to abandon more than 3,000 hectares of land, further imperilling Haiti’s food production, at a time when an estimated 1.6 million people in the country face emergency-level acute food insecurity.

Turk urged the Haitian authorities to take robust steps to strengthen the police and other state institutions crippled by endemic corruption, including the judiciary, if the rule of law is to be restored and those responsible for violations and abuses held to account.

In addition, he called on the authorities to protect children from gangs and to redouble efforts to tackle gender and sexual violence and to protect internally displaced people.

The high commissioner also urged the international community comprehensively to implement the targeted arms embargo, the travel ban, and asset freeze imposed by the UN Security Council, to stem gang violence in Haiti.