More than 16,000 people have died from the violence of the bands in Haiti Since the beginning of 2022, according to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Thursday, Volker Türk.
Türk also warned that this year there has been a worrying increase in deaths from disproportionate use of the strength of security forces in operations against these armed groups, according to the report of EFE.
More than half of the murders registered in 2025 have occurred within the framework of operations of these security forces, a strong increase with respect to 2024, the high commissioner warned in a debate on Haiti’s situation in the United Nations Human Rights Council.
He also warned that between 270,000 and 500,000 firearms circulate illegally in the country, mostly in the hands of armed bands, which continue to commit murders, kidnappings or extortion in illegal security controls, among other abuses.
Tuesday’s decision
The UN Security Council approved on Tuesday a US resolution for deployment in the Caribbean country of gang elimination force (GSF) that will replace the multinational mission of security support (MSS), deployed last year under Kenya’s leadership without achieving prominent results.
The United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, declared that it is committed to a “rapid deployment” of the new international mission to fight gangs in Haiti and called for other countries to join this effort.
New OAS leader promises to prioritize the Haitian crisis on the hemispheric entity agenda
According to Rubio, this new force “will address the immediate security challenges of Haiti and lay the bases for long -term stability” of the Caribbean country.
He pointed out that the GSF will work together with the new United Nations Support Office in Haiti (UNSOH) and that it will have “the necessary resources to combat the bands.”
The GSF, which has the support of the Haitian government, will have up to a maximum of 5500 police or military personnel, assisted by 50 civilians, and will have an initial mandate of 12 months.
