On the Deteriorating Security and Humanitarian Situation in Haiti

The New York City Bar Association (City Bar) expresses grave concern over the deteriorating security and humanitarian crisis in Haiti.

On November 11, 2024, armed gangs attacked a commercial aircraft near Port-au-Prince International Airport, forcing its closure and further isolating the capital. Coordinated gang attacks across the city soon followed, triggering violent clashes with self-defense groups, resulting in at least 220 deaths and displacing 41,000 people. In December 2024 gang violence escalated, with mass killings in Wharf Jérémie (207 fatalities) and retaliatory attacks in Artibonite (114 deaths). On December 24, 2024, gangs attacked the Hospital of the State University, killing a police officer and two journalists.[1]

The City Bar strongly condemns the increasing violence, criminal activities, mass displacement of civilians, and human rights abuses that undermine the peace, stability, and security of Haiti and the region, including but not limited to kidnappings, sexual and gender-based violence, trafficking in persons, smuggling of migrants, homicides, unlawful killings, and the recruitment of children by armed groups and criminal networks.

The City Bar further expresses grave concern over the illicit flow of arms and ammunition into Haiti, which remains a major contributor to instability and violence, and reiterates the need for UN Member States to fully implement the arms embargo in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions 2699 (2023)[2] and 2700 (2023).[3]

The City Bar also calls on armed gangs to immediately cease their destabilizing actions and reaffirms the call for the perpetrators of abhorrent acts to be brought to justice. Sanctions must be enforced against individuals and entities responsible for actions that threaten Haiti’s peace and security and undermine the country’s stability, in line with Security Council resolutions 2653 (2022)[4] and 2700 (2023).[5]

In addition, the City Bar emphasizes the need for the international community to increase its efforts in providing humanitarian assistance to the Haitian population and support the Haitian National Police, including strengthening Haiti’s capacity to restore law and order through such means as the Multinational Security Support (MSS) Mission to Haiti. We welcome ongoing efforts vis-à-vis the deployment of the MSS Mission to Haiti, including the recent deployment of an additional 217 Kenyan police officers (which includes an advance team of 5 women), 150 Guatemalan officers, 23 Jamaican officers, 8 Salvadorean officers, 6 Bahamian officers, and 2 police officers from Belize.[6] We are concerned, however, that the MSS Mission remains underfunded and underequipped, lacking strategic, operational, and logistical expertise. While welcoming the financial, personnel, and in-kind commitments pledged by Member States, as well as the establishment of the United Nations Trust Fund for the MSS mission, the City Bar supports Haiti’s request that the mission transition into a UN peacekeeping operation as soon as possible, with a clear mandate, adequate resources, and increased expertise.[7]

A lasting resolution of the crisis in Haiti requires political and security progress on the ground, supported by constant international solidarity. We remain gravely concerned about the limited progress in Haiti’s political process and the need for security conditions conducive to an inclusive political process, including free and fair elections. Acknowledging the ongoing efforts by all relevant stakeholders in this regard, the City Bar urges all political actors to engage constructively in meaningful negotiations to allow the holding of free and fair legislative and presidential elections to restore democratic institutions without delay.

The City Bar hosted a program, the “Crisis in Haiti: The Plague of Escalating Violence,”[8] on January 9, 2025, organized by the City Bar’s United Nations Committee and co-sponsored by the Council on International Affairs, the International Human Rights and Inter-American Affairs Committees, the Haitian American Lawyers Association of New York Inc., the International Caribbean Women Alliance for Empowerment, the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice, and the International Law Section of the National Bar Association, which focused on the need for good governance, anti-corruption, security, political and electoral reforms, economic development and investments, and the urgent need to address social and humanitarian challenges in Haiti.

Reaffirming its unwavering solidarity with the Haitian people, the City Bar urges Haitian stakeholders, regional countries and organizations, and the international community—including Member States of the United Nations—to strengthen their commitment in addressing the current challenges which Haiti faces.

United Nations Committee
Sophia Murashkovsky, Co-Chair
Ervin Nina, Co-Chair

February 2025