GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP)— Soaring gang violence in Haiti left over 5,600 people dead last year — over 1,000 more than in 2023 — while thousands more were injured or kidnapped, the United Nations said Tuesday.

Violent gangs control most of the capital Port-au-Prince. The poor Caribbean country has been mired for decades by political instability, made worse in recent years by gangs that have grown in strength.

“These figures alone cannot capture the absolute horrors being perpetrated in Haiti but they show the unremitting violence to which people are being subjected,” UN rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement.

Despite a Kenyan-led police support mission, backed by the United States and UN, violence has continued to burgeon.

Tuesday’s statement said at least 207 people were killed in early December in a massacre orchestrated by the leader of the powerful Wharf Jeremie gang in the Cite Soleil area of the capital.

Many of the victims were older people accused of involvement in voodoo and accused by a gang leader of poisoning his child. The suspects were taken to a “training centre” where many were dismembered or burned after being killed.

The UN rights office in 2024 had documented 315 lynchings of gang members and people allegedly associated with gangs, on some occasions reportedly facilitated by Haitian police officers.

In addition, it said, there were 281 cases of alleged summary executions involving specialised police units last year.

“It has long been clear that impunity for human rights violations and abuses, as well as corruption, remain prevalent in Haiti,” Turk said.

“Restoring the rule of law must be a priority,” he said, calling for the Kenyan-led mission to be granted “the logistical and financial support it requires to successfully implement its mandate”.

Turk also called for the national police force to hold accountable officers reportedly involved in rights abuses with international help.

He also called for the full implementation of Security Council-mandated sanctions and an arms embargo.

“Weapons flowing into Haiti often end up in the hands of the criminal gangs, with tragic results: thousands killed, hundreds of thousands displaced, essential infrastructure and services, such as schools and hospitals, disrupted and destroyed,” Turk said.

The UN rights chief decried continued deportations to Haiti, saying “the acute insecurity and resulting human rights crisis in the country simply do not allow for the safe, dignified and sustainable return of Haitians”.