UN: nearly 6,000 killed in Haiti in 2025 amid gang violence

Port-au-Prince.- At least 5,915 people were killed and 2,708 injured in Haiti during 2025 amid escalating gang violence and security operations, according to the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (Binuh), which warned that the country’s human rights situation remains “extremely worrying.” Between October and December alone, at least 1,523 deaths and 806 injuries were recorded.

Binuh reported that more than 62% of victims in the last quarter were affected during security force operations, some supported by a private military company using drones. Gangs were responsible for 32% of the victims and self-defense groups for 6%. While gangs failed to expand territorial control in Port-au-Prince due to law enforcement actions, they continued to commit targeted killings, kidnappings, extortion, property destruction, and child trafficking in areas they control, and carried out indiscriminate attacks in rural regions.

The report also highlighted a surge in sexual violence and kidnappings. In 2025, 1,753 cases of sexual violence by gangs were documented, including gang rape, with 301 victims reported in the final quarter—many of them women and girls, some as young as 10 years old. At least 647 kidnappings occurred during the year. The UN urged Haiti to accelerate programs to prevent and rehabilitate minors involved in gangs, keep the crisis on the international agenda, and ensure adequate support for the Gang Repression Force, alongside updating sanctions against those undermining human rights.