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	Like a war zone, the severity of the situation in Haiti by Reliefweb, agencies   25 Jan. 2024   Ms. Maria Isabel Salvador, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Haiti, statement to the UN Security Council:   Haiti remains plagued by a mounting scale of violence due to an unprecedented surge in kidnappings, rapes and other crimes committed by armed gangs that increasingly affect the livelihoods of people and undermine humanitarian activities. I cannot overstress the severity of the situation in Haiti, where multiple protracted crises have reached a critical point.   Last year, my office documented over 8,400 direct victims of gang violence, including people killed, injured and kidnapped, an increase of 122 per cent as compared to 2022. The capital accounted for 83 per cent of killings and injuries, and violence also spread to the countryside, specifically to Artibonite. South of the capital, gangs conducted large-scale attacks to control key zones and continue to systematically employ sexual violence in their areas of control, putting women and girls as young as 12 at risk.   While improvement to the security situation is essential to break the cycle of crises in Haiti, long-term stability can only be achieved through a nationally owned and inclusive political process. Although inter-Haitian dialogue and consultations continue, divergences remain on governance arrangements, hampering progress on the political front.   I echo the sentiments expressed by the Secretary-General in his 7 December statement calling on every political actor and stakeholder in and for Haiti to come together in good faith and in unity and determination, prioritizing and upholding the interests of the Haitian people above all.   I appeal once more to Member States to contribute generously to ensure the timely deployment of the Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) to Haiti.   The continuous support to the Haitian National Police; the deployment of the MSS; a sustained political process resulting in credible, participatory and inclusive elections, constitute fundamental elements that can contribute to restore security and stability to Haiti, where consequently the rule of law, democratic institutions, and sustainable development become a reality for the people of Haiti.   Tiranana Hassan, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch, acknowledging the Security Council’s efforts in October 2023 to address the crisis in Haiti, pointed out the unfortunate stalling of the MSS mission deployment. This has led to the worsening of the security situation in the country, marked by killings, kidnappings, sexual violence and a distressing doubling of fatalities in 2023 compared to the previous year, with nearly 4,700 lives lost.   The persistent political deadlock in Haiti remains a significant impediment to effective governance, she stressed, emphasizing the lack of access to fundamental rights and essential services by many Haitians, which has further fuelled recruitment by criminal groups.   Against this backdrop, she shared a story of a nurse in Haiti, whose three-year-old daughter suffered physical distress, with diarrhoea and vomiting, while the community came under attack. The assailants, attempting to breach her home, eventually left after throwing a Molotov cocktail. Two months later, the child remains deeply traumatized, unable to sleep and expressing fears of impending harm. Speaking to Human Rights Watch, the mother stressed the urgency of an international response, adding “we are suffocating”.   Despite the past failures and abuses associated with international interventions in Haiti — allegations of sexual abuse by peacekeepers and the outbreak of a cholera epidemic — international support is crucial to avoid repeating past mistakes, she said.   On that, she called on the Council to encourage troop-contributing countries to implement a robust human rights due diligence policy, including vetting force members before deployment. “The Council should reiterate zero tolerance for any misconduct by members of the international force and support independent oversight,” she stressed. Underscoring that the security component should be just one facet of a response to address the human rights and humanitarian crisis in Haiti, she called for well-coordinated humanitarian and development assistance and the establishment of a transitional Government.   Additionally, measures to ensure accountability for leaders of criminal groups and their supporters are required, alongside with the efforts to curb the illicit flow of weapons and ammunition to criminal groups. “We also call on the Council to remind all countries to stop returning Haitians who are fleeing this severe violence,” she said.   Communities under Siege as Gang Violence Surges across Port-Au-Prince, Haiti (Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect)   Surging gang violence forced Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, under lockdown on Thursday, 18 January. The once peaceful neighborhood of Solino was the epicenter of a multiday siege, during which dozens of people were killed while flaming barricades blocking streets and relentless automatic gunfire left residents trapped in their homes. Residents regularly called radio stations pleading for help. One unidentified caller said, “If police don’t come, we are dying today.”   Four days into the siege, the Haitian National Police released a statement saying officers were deployed. The siege has raised fears of escalating violence that could spread further in Port-au-Prince, as Solino is strategically located near neighborhoods that have remained largely safe.   In recent months gangs have significantly expanded across the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince and beyond to the Ouest (West) and Artibonite Departments, prompting new outbreaks of violence. Gangs control over 80 percent of Port-au-Prince. Last year the UN documented 4,789 people killed by gang violence, an increase of 119 percent compared with 2022, while another 3,000 people were kidnapped.   According to local sources, kidnappings have been on the rise since the beginning of the year. On 19 January armed gunmen stopped and boarded a bus in Port-au-Prince, kidnapping six nuns and two other passengers in broad daylight.   Jean-Martin Bauer, Acting UN Humanitarian Coordinator, warned, “Living in Haiti today means being forced to make impossible choices to stay alive. Going to school, the hospital or the market, cultivating your field or obtaining drinking water has become an ordeal for millions of Haitians. Because crossing the threshold of your house means risking death from bullets, being kidnapped by armed groups or suffering unimaginable violence of all kinds, including sexual violence.”   The latest UN Secretary-General’s report on Haiti outlines how gangs systematically use sexual violence to consolidate control over populations, while the rape of hostages continues to be used as a tactic to coerce families into paying higher ransoms.   Amid the unprecedented gang violence, on 26 January Kenya’s High Court is expected to make a ruling on whether 1,000 Kenyan police officers can be deployed to Port-au-Prince, where they are expected to lead the UN Security Council (UNSC)-mandated Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS).   The deteriorating human rights and security situation in Haiti requires a swift and robust response by the international community. The MSS should be urgently deployed. The UNSC should update the list of individuals and entities subject to the sanctions regime for supporting, preparing, ordering or committing violations or abuses of International Human Rights Law, as well as fully implement the arms embargo.   * Haiti’s security forces are increasingly outgunned by the armed bandits who control most of Port-au-Prince. The national police have lost nearly 3,300 officers in the past three years, the force’s principal trade union said on Monday. Underpaid, and undertrained officers are running before they are killed by better paid and better-armed gang members, unions say.   The International Organization for Migration (IOM) released its latest assessment of internal displacements in Haiti, reflecting the severity of the ongoing crisis. As of December 2023, more than 310,000 people are internally displaced. Of the currently internally displaced people in Haiti, more than half faced displacement in 2023, illustrating the ever-worsening security and humanitarian situation, especially in the capital Port-au-Prince. Concerningly, children make up a high number of the displaced.   The violence engulfing the Port-au-Prince Metropolitan Area is the result of conflict between gangs, racketeering, kidnappings and wider criminal acts. The extreme brutality faced by Haitians aggravates deep inequalities, high levels of deprivation of basic human needs and a fragmented security environment. 94% of internally displaced people in Haiti originated from the Ouest department, with the capital being the primary source.   The IOM assessment shows that women, children and men have been forced to leave their homes seeking shelter away from violence and destruction. More than half of them, 172,300, are children, a particularly vulnerable group. In the face of emergencies, the first responders are usually local communities, the data shows that outside the capital, host families accommodate people displaced. The figures for the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area paint a different picture, with only 45 per cent of IDPs taken in by host communities, with a worrying downward trend demonstrating the deteriorating situation for the whole population including host families and their coping capacity.   “The trend of forced displacement is showcasing an ever-deteriorating security and humanitarian situation. While humanitarians keep on doing their utmost to provide life-saving assistance and support, humanitarian aid is not the sole solution. More investments are needed in long-term solutions to strengthen State services across the country.” reminded Philippe Branchat, IOM’s chief in Haiti.   Haiti faces a multi-dimensional crisis. Not only is the country regularly affected by natural hazards, such as earthquakes, storms and floods, but it is also affected by violence spread by hundreds of gangs mostly in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince but also expanding in the provinces".   Haiti: Gang activity, climatic shocks drive 4.35 million people into high levels of acute food insecurity. (IPC)   Gang activity and climatic shocks continue to have a detrimental effect on Haiti’s food security situation. In the latest analysis, 4.35 million people are experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity between August 2023 and February 2024. Around 1.4 million people are classified in IPC Phase 4 (Emergency) and around 2.95 million people are in IPC Phase 3 (Crisis). No humanitarian food assistance has been confirmed for the projected period of March to June 2024, therefore, it is estimated the number of people in Phase 3 will likely increase to 3.03 million (31 percent of the population) – bringing the total population in need of urgent action to 45 percent.   Haiti continues to experience heightened gang activity, with increased kidnappings, armed attacks, robberies and sexual violence. This has forced major internal displacement to take place – particularly in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area and the Artibonite valley (Analysis zone Artibonite HT04). Insecurity also continues to disrupt access to markets and the movement of people and goods including agricultural products. Rainfall deficits and drought also continue to affect Haiti, in addition to the periodical impact of natural disasters that continue to significantly affect people and livelihoods.   * Kenya’s high court has ruled against the government plan to deploy hundreds of police to Haiti to lead the UN-backed multinational mission. Enock Chacha Mwita, the judge who issued the ruling found that parliamentary approval was only required for military, and not police deployments, and that police could be deployed abroad. However, that for officers to be deployed, there needed to be a reciprocal arrangement with the host government, which was not currently in place. The judgment leaves the multinational mission in limbo and is a setback for the Government, which had hoped to have police on the ground this month. The Kenyan Government said it will appeal the judgement.   Haiti’s foreign minister, Jean Victor Geneus, had pleaded for the deployment to be speeded up, telling the UN security council that violence in the country was as barbaric as in a war zone.   http://reliefweb.int/report/haiti/haiti-ipc-acute-food-insecurity-snapshot-march-june-2024 http://www.savethechildren.net/news/more-one-million-children-trapped-gang-violence-rages-haiti http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/statement-unicef-executive-director-catherine-russell-situation-haiti http://www.unicef.org/emergencies/crisis-haiti http://www.msf.org/new-survey-reveals-extreme-levels-violence-haiti http://www.iom.int/news/waves-violence-storm-port-au-prince-haiti-further-displacing-thousands http://www.ipcinfo.org/ipcinfo-website/alerts-archive/issue-98/en/ http://unocha.exposure.co/breaking-point-in-haiti-the-struggle-for-survival   http://www.msf.org/new-survey-reveals-extreme-levels-violence-haiti http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/unicef-urges-all-parties-safeguard-children-amid-latest-unrest-haiti http://www.wfp.org/news/wfp-calls-humanitarian-access-violence-and-unrest-wreak-havoc-haiti http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/03/haiti-cataclysmic-situation-demands-immediate-and-bold-action-un-report http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/02/haiti-turk-warns-deepening-human-rights-crisis-following-most-violent-month http://reliefweb.int/report/haiti/support-haitis-police-deployment-multinational-mission-fundamental-towards-restoring-stability-country-senior-official-tells-security-council http://reliefweb.int/report/haiti/statement-ms-maria-isabel-salvador-special-representative-secretary-general-haiti-and-head-binuh-enfr   http://haiti.iom.int/news/haiti-more-60-forced-displacements-happened-2023-year-growing-brutality http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/least-170000-children-displaced-amid-escalating-violence-haiti http://www.hrw.org/news/2024/01/25/haiti-escalating-violence-threatens-millions http://reliefweb.int/report/haiti/atrocity-alert-no-379-haiti-sudan-and-yemen http://www.unocha.org/publications/report/haiti/government-haiti-and-humanitarian-community-launch-response-plan-assist-36-million-people-2024 http://www.ipcinfo.org/ipcinfo-website/alerts-archive/issue-87/en/ http://www.unicef.org/appeals/haiti http://www.wfp.org/countries/haiti http://www.msf.org/haiti http://reliefweb.int/country/hti http://news.un.org/en/search/haiti Visit the related web page
	Decriminalization of homelessness and extreme poverty by OHCHR, Campaign to Decriminalise Poverty & Status   In many States persons experiencing homelessness, living in poverty or vulnerability are disproportionately subjected to fines, deportation, arbitrary arrest, or detention for petty offences or conduct that is necessary to survive, such as informal street vending, waste collection, sex work, begging, sleeping, cooking or eating in public places. Persons who are unable to pay fines for petty offences, such as riding public transport without a valid ticket, continue to be imprisoned in many countries.   Such sanctions do not only raise human rights concerns; they also congest the criminal justice system with issues that should be better addressed by other measures and policies tackling the root causes of homelessness or poverty.   The Guiding Principles on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights (A/HRC/21/39), adopted by Human Rights Council resolution 21/11 in September 2012 underline that States should "repeal and reform any laws that criminalize life-sustaining activities in public places, such as sleeping, begging, eating or performing personal hygiene activities".   Furthermore States should "review sanctions procedures that require the payment of disproportionate fines by persons living in poverty, especially those related to begging, use of public space and welfare fraud, and consider abolishing prison sentences for non-payment of fines for those unable to pay".   The Guidelines for the Implementation of the Right to Adequate Housing (A/HRC/43/43), specify that "States should prohibit and address discrimination on the ground of homelessness or other housing status and repeal all laws and measures that criminalize or penalize homeless people or behaviour associated with being homeless, such as sleeping or eating in public spaces.   The forced eviction of homeless persons from public spaces and the destruction of their personal belongings must be prohibited. Homeless persons should be equally protected from interference with privacy and the home, wherever they are living."   They further recommend: "States should provide, within their justice system, alternative procedures for dealing with minor offences of homeless people to help them break the cycle of criminalization, incarceration and homelessness and secure the right to housing."   Similarly in June 2020 the Human Rights Council called in resolution 43/14 on States to "take all measures necessary to eliminate legislation that criminalized homelessness."   The UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing and the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights have invited States, local Governments, civil society organizations, National Human Rights Institutions, national associations working with the homeless, and other relevant stakeholders to make submissions that are now available online to inform a joint report on the Decriminalization of homelessness and extreme poverty.   The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) on the decriminalization of homelessness and extreme poverty.   International human rights law and standards require States to address the root causes of homelessness and poverty and to provide support to those experiencing them. States’ failure to do so often amounts to violations of their international human rights law obligations to realize a range of human rights, including the rights to adequate housing, work and social security, for example, under the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights.   Under international human rights law, States are legally obliged to address the plight of those experiencing homelessness and those living in poverty. Very often, however, States not only fail to comply with these obligations but, making matters worse, subject people experiencing homelessness and poverty to harsh criminal law sanctions solely for conduct that is critical to their survival.   In this context, the ICJ is particularly concerned that in many national jurisdictions people commonly continue to be imprisoned if they are unable to pay fines for minor “criminal infractions”.   Overall, decriminalizing homelessness and extreme poverty is not only consistent with general principles of criminal law and States’ legal obligations under international human right law, but it also a necessary step to begin addressing the root causes of the violations of economic and social rights of particularly marginalized persons.   The ICJ submission underscores that, instead of enacting and enforcing criminal laws with a disproportionate impact on such persons, under international human rights law, States are required to provide all people with the opportunity to rebuild their lives and fully integrate into society while respecting their dignity and human rights.   http://www.ohchr.org/en/calls-for-input/2023/call-input-decriminalization-homelessness-and-extreme-poverty http://decrimpovertystatus.org http://decrimpovertystatus.org/poor-not-guilty http://evictionlab.org/rising-rents-and-evictions-linked-to-premature-death/ http://www.ucsf.edu/news/2023/10/426426/homeless-people-are-16-times-more-likely-die-suddenly http://www.wiego.org/informal-economy/poverty-growth-linkages http://gcap.global/ http://www.socialprotectionfloorscoalition.org/   http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/10/un-expert-urges-action-end-global-affordable-housing-crisis http://www.habitat.org/ap/home-equals-ap http://www.iied.org/better-for-everyone-exposing-hidden-value-equitable-housing-informal-settlements http://tinyurl.com/2fvn7hp2 http://www.iied.org/tag/informal-settlements-slums http://sdinet.org/ http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/01/states-obligated-safeguard-equitable-access-and-use-land-un-committee http://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-housing/annual-thematic-reports http://www.ohchr.org/en/statements/2021/10/joint-statement-independent-united-nations-human-rights-experts-warning-threat
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