STORY: UN Human Rights High Commissioner Volker Türk on Haiti

TRT: 04:45

SOURCE: OHCHR 
RESTRICTIONS: NONE 
LANGUAGE: English /French/NATS 
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9  
DATELINE:  8 October 2024 – GENEVA, SWITZERLAND  

SHOTLIST  

1. Exterior shots : Palais des Nations 

2. Wide shot : Room 20 Palais des Nations 

3. SOUNDBITE (English) — Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: “Yet again, I must report on the deeply distressing situation in Haiti. Only last week, in the latest symptomatic horror, gang members entered a neighbourhood of Pont Sondé in the dead of night, setting fire to houses and gunning down residents as they fled. At least 70 people were killed, including three small babies.” 

4. Cut aways: Room 20 Palais des Nations 
5. SOUNDBITE (English) — Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: “I am convinced that the security crisis, the rule of law crisis, and the governance crisis that Haitians are enduring can be resolved.”
6. Cut aways: Room 20 Palais des Nations 
7. SOUNDBITE (English) — Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: “Crucial to that effort must be full implementation of the Security Council's arms embargo to prevent the supply of firearms and ammunition to non-State actors in Haiti, as well as its targeted asset freeze and travel ban. The embargo is mandatory, and it was adopted unanimously – most recently in October 2023. It is due to be renewed on 18 October. I strongly encourage passage of this important set of measures, and I urge all States – including all Security Council Member States – to enforce every aspect in full.”
8.  Cut aways: Room 20 Palais des Nations 
9. SOUNDBITE (English) — Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: “Gender-based violence, including sexual violence, has reached new peaks of brutality and scale, with my Office documenting collective rapes among other horrors. The number of internally displaced people in the country has risen by 95 per cent since March, to 703,000 – almost 6 per cent of the population.”
10.  Cut aways: Room 20 Palais des Nations 
11. SOUNDBITE (English) — Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: “I welcome last week's renewal by the Security Council of the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission. It is also absolutely crucial to ensure that the MSS mission, led by Kenya, is given adequate resources and support. All security operations – including those conducted jointly by the MSS mission and the Haitian police – need to comply fully with international law, including international human rights law, and they need to be accountable.”
12.  Cut aways: Room 20 Palais des Nations 
13. SOUNDBITE (French) — Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights : “De manière plus générale, il est également essentiel de renforcer la gouvernance et les institutions de l'État, en particulier la justice, la police et le secteur pénitentiaire. En outre, il faut commencer à s'attaquer aux inégalités et à la pauvreté, omniprésentes dans le pays.”
14.  Cut aways: Room 20 Palais des Nations 
15. SOUNDBITE (French) — Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights : “Je salue l'inclusion, par le nouveau gouvernement de transition, d'engagements clés en matière de droits humains dans sa feuille de route. Ses plans d'action concrète pour lutter contre la corruption et d'autres violations des droits humains comprennent des unités judiciaires spécialisées pour aider à lutter contre les crimes de masse, tels que les violences sexuelles, ainsi que les crimes financiers. La persistance des pratiques de corruption, en particulier au sein des institutions publiques, est profondément déstabilisante et il est urgent de prendre des mesures à cet égard.”
16.  Cut aways: Room 20 Palais des Nations 
17. SOUNDBITE (English) — Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: “Haiti is a small country of immense importance to our world. In terms of human rights, we can never forget its revolution against slavery and colonial oppression, surely one of the most inspiring chapters in human history.”
18.  Cut aways: Room 20 Palais des Nations 
19. SOUNDBITE (English) — Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: “It pains me to see the deportations, mistreatment, and hateful and racist smears that target Haitians in some countries of the region. Haitians have the same rights to live free from violence, fear and misery as every person of every other nationality.”
20.  Cut aways: Room 20 Palais des Nations 
21. SOUNDBITE (English) — Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: In a country of less than 28,000 square kilometres – less than 65% of the size of Switzerland – addressing the current crisis is not an outsized challenge, in either strategy or cost. On the contrary: each facet of Haiti's current crisis can be addressed and can be resolved.”

“Yet again, I must report on the deeply distressing situation in Haiti. Only last week, in the latest symptomatic horror, gang members entered a neighbourhood of Pont Sondé in the dead of night, setting fire to houses and gunning down residents as they fled. At least 70 people were killed, including three small babies,” Türk said, as he presented his Office’s latest report.

The report details the magnitude of the chaotic violence inflicted on the population between the end of February and the beginning of July this year.  The High Commissioner noted that his Designated Expert on Haiti, William O'Neill, visited the country  last month, with his observations confirming the continued gravity of the situation.  

“I am convinced that the security crisis, the rule of law crisis, and the governance crisis that Haitians are enduring can be resolved,” Türk said.

“Crucial to that effort must be full implementation of the Security Council's arms embargo to prevent the supply of firearms and ammunition to non-State actors in Haiti, as well as its targeted asset freeze and travel ban. The embargo is mandatory, and it was adopted unanimously – most recently in October 2023. It is due to be renewed on 18 October. I strongly encourage passage of this important set of measures, and I urge all States – including all Security Council Member States – to enforce every aspect in full,” the High Commissioner stated. 

Weapons and ammunition are not manufactured in Haiti but flow in from businesses elsewhere. States must do more to enforce in full the Security Council's embargo on weapons exporters operating in or from their territory. This is leading to thousands of killings, massive displacement, the complete destruction of the economy, and horrific suffering. 

The UN Human rights Office has documented targeted killings and random shootings, including of children, by members of increasingly powerful criminal gangs; mass kidnappings; the forced recruitment, exploitation and trafficking of children; as well as the burning and looting of residences and businesses.

“Gender-based violence, including sexual violence, has reached new peaks of brutality and scale, with my Office documenting collective rapes among other horrors. The number of internally displaced people in the country has risen by 95 per cent since March, to 703,000 – almost 6 per cent of the population,” Türk said.

Attacks against hospitals; banks; police stations; schools; the main seaport and airport in the capital; and gangs' control of roads have further disrupted the provision of essential services, with lethal humanitarian impact. Over 4.9 million people are experiencing acute food insecurity; in other words, well over one-third of the population are suffering severe undernourishment, reflected in wasting and starvation. Three million Haitian children are in need of humanitarian aid.

“I welcome last week's renewal by the Security Council of the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission. It is also absolutely crucial to ensure that the MSS mission, led by Kenya, is given adequate resources and support. All security operations – including those conducted jointly by the MSS mission and the Haitian police – need to comply fully with international law, including international human rights law, and they need to be accountable,” Türk said.

The UN Human Rights Office is supporting the development and implementation of the compliance mechanism requested by the Security Council. Together with the MSS mission, the Office is organising briefings for personnel with command responsibility regarding international standards on the use of force; preventing sexual exploitation and abuse; and a principled approach to issues involving children associated with gangs. The Office is also continuing to support the Haitian authorities, and to monitor and verify alleged human rights violations, including any allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse.

Switching to French, Türk also highlighted some of the key challenges Haiti faces. 

« De manière plus générale, il est également essentiel de renforcer la gouvernance et les institutions de l'État, en particulier la justice, la police et le secteur pénitentiaire. En outre, il faut commencer à s'attaquer aux inégalités et à la pauvreté, omniprésentes dans le pays, » he said. 

« Je salue l'inclusion, par le nouveau gouvernement de transition, d'engagements clés en matière de droits humains dans sa feuille de route. Ses plans d'action concrète pour lutter contre la corruption et d'autres violations des droits humains comprennent des unités judiciaires spécialisées pour aider à lutter contre les crimes de masse, tels que les violences sexuelles, ainsi que les crimes financiers. La persistance des pratiques de corruption, en particulier au sein des institutions publiques, est profondément déstabilisante et il est urgent de prendre des mesures à cet égard, » Türk said (also in French).

“Haiti is a small country of immense importance to our world. In terms of human rights, we can never forget its revolution against slavery and colonial oppression, surely one of the most inspiring chapters in human history,” Türk said. 

The extraordinary creativity of Haitian culture, and the ingenuity and determination of so many Haitian individuals, have driven outsized contributions to the economies and societies of many States. 

“It pains me to see the deportations, mistreatment, and hateful and racist smears that target Haitians in some countries of the region. Haitians have the same rights to live free from violence, fear and misery as every person of every other nationality,” the High Commissioner said. 

“In a country of less than 28,000 square kilometres – less than 65% of the size of Switzerland – addressing the current crisis is not an outsized challenge, in either strategy or cost. On the contrary: each facet of Haiti's current crisis can be addressed and can be resolved,” Türk stated. 

ENDS 

For more information and media requests, please contact: 

Ravina Shamdasani:  +41 22 917 9169 / ravina.shamdasani@un.org  

Thameen Al-Kheetan: +41 22 917 4232 / thameen.alkheetan@un.org 

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