Haiti gangs crisis: Top rights expert decries attacks on hospitals

This article is published in association with United Nations.

The UN’s top expert on human rights in Haiti on Friday condemned “intentional” attacks on hospitals, clinics and healthcare workers by armed gangs there, warning that medical facilities were already “near collapse”.

William O’Neill, who reports to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, highlighted an attack on the Bernard Mevs Hospital in Port-au-Prince on 17 December and the killing of several journalists and a police officer at the General Hospital on 24 December.

The victims were attending the hospital’s official reopening.

“Criminal gangs have murdered and kidnapped physicians, nurses and healthcare workers, including humanitarian workers,” Mr. O’Neill said in a statement, adding that gangs had “burned, ransacked and destroyed many hospitals and clinics, forcing many to close or suspend their operations”.

According to the rights expert, only 37 per cent of health facilities in Port-au-Prince are fully functional.

‘Precarious conditions’

They remain difficult to access because of unchecked gangland violence in the capital that has put millions of Haitians at risk, Mr. O’Neill stressed.

He underscored “repeated threats to attack health premises” and cited reports that police officers were also allegedly involved.

“The Haitian people – including hundreds of thousands of children living in very precarious conditions – are once again paying the high price of this violence with their right to health severely hindered,” he lamented, expressing concern over the spread of diseases such as cholera and tuberculosis.

Journalists under attack

The attacks on 24 December also underscore the dangers faced by journalists in Haiti, with many being killed or fleeing the country due to death threats.

Mr. O’Neill called on the international community to support Haitian authorities in combating insecurity and ensuring the right to health.

“I urge the international community to do everything it can to help Haitian authorities to combat rampant insecurity and ensure the realization of the right to health, including unhindered access to health facilities, goods, and services,” he said.

He also stressed the need for the State to investigate and bring those responsible for the attacks to justice.

© OHCHR/Marion Mondain

William O’Neill (right), talks to a Haitian police officer in Port-au-Prince during a visit to the country in October 2023.