Haiti's gangs have 'near-total control' of the capital as violence
escalates, UN says
[July 03, 2025]
By EDITH M. LEDERER
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Haiti’s gangs have gained “near-total control” of
the capital and authorities are unable to stop escalating violence
across the impoverished Caribbean nation, senior U.N. officials warned
Wednesday.
An estimated 90% of the capital Port-au-Prince is now under control of
criminal groups who are expanding attacks not only into surrounding
areas but beyond into previously peaceful areas, Ghada Fathy Waly,
executive director of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, told the U.N.
Security Council.
“Southern Haiti, which until recently was insulated from the violence,
has seen a sharp increase in gang-related incidents,” she said. “And in
the east, criminal groups are exploiting land routes, including key
crossings like Belladere and Malpasse, where attacks against police and
customs officials have been reported.”
Waly said the state’s authority to govern is rapidly shrinking as gang
control expands with cascading effects. Criminal groups are stepping
into the vacuum left by the absence or limited delivery of public
services and are establishing “parallel governance structures,” and gang
control of major trade routes has paralyzed legal commerce, leading to
soaring prices for cooking fuel and rice, Haiti’s staple food, she said.
U.N. Assistant Secretary-General Miroslav Jenca told the council “the
ongoing gang encirclement of Port-au-Prince” and their strengthened
foothold in the capital and beyond is “pushing the situation closer to
the brink.”
“Without increased action by the international community, the total
collapse of state presence in the capital could become a very real
scenario,” he warned.
Gangs have grown in power since the assassination of President Jovenel
Moïse in July 2021 and previously were estimated to control 85% of the
capital. Haiti has not had a president since the assassination.
A U.N.-backed mission led by Kenyan police arrived in Haiti last year to
help quell gang violence, but the mission remains understaffed and
underfunded, with only about 40% of the 2,500 personnel originally
envisioned. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ proposal in
February to have the U.N. provide drones, fuel, ground and air transport
and other non-lethal support to the Kenya-led mission has languished in
the council.
In response to the gangs, the UNODC’s Waly said there has been a rapid
growth in the number and activities of private security companies and
vigilante self-defense groups, with some trying to protect their
communities while others act illegally and collude with gangs.
“Over the last three months," Jenca said, "these groups reportedly
killed at least 100 men and one woman suspected of gang association or
collaboration.”
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Security guards stand watch as Haiti's Prime Minister Alix Didier
Fils-Aime, center, talks with the Mexico's Charge d'Affaires Jesus
Cisneros after attending an event marking one year since the start
of the Multinational Security Support Mission in Port-au-Prince,
Haiti, Thursday, June 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
He said the last three months have also seen an increase in sexual
violence by gangs with the U.N. political mission in Haiti
documenting 364 incidents of sexual violence involving 378 survivors
just from March to April.
A new report by U.N. experts covering the period from last October
through February said the gangs have exploited political turmoil and
the disorganized response to Haiti’s security crisis, pointing to
competing political ambitions and allegations of corruption within
Haiti’s transitional governing bodies that have stymied action.
“While the expansion of territorial control brings gangs additional
sources of revenue and bargaining power,” the experts said, “these
attacks are also backed by individuals trying to destabilize the
political transition for their own political goals.”
One major result is that very little progress has been made toward
restoring public security or implementing the roadmap for organizing
national elections by February 2026, the experts monitoring an arms
embargo on Haiti and sanctions against key gang leaders said in the
report to the Security Council.
With a weak national police force facing acute tensions in its
leadership, an army that needs rebuilding, and the limited ability
of the multinational force, the experts warned that the gangs will
continue “to have the upper hand unless stronger international
support is provided.”
As for vigilante groups, the experts said, they “often include local
police officers, some of whom actively participate in human rights
violations.”
The Haitian National Police have also carried out “a worrying number
of extrajudicial killings … with suspected gang members often
summarily executed,” the experts said, pointing to 281 summary
executions by specialized police units in 2024 including 22 women
and 8 children.
Despite the U.N. arms embargo on Haiti, gangs continue to obtain
more powerful weapons not only from regional civilian markets but
from police stockpiles in Haiti and the neighboring Dominican
Republic, the experts said.
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