Medellin, Colombia – Gang violence erupted in Haiti on Sunday, leaving at least 70 people dead and around 6,000 homeless, according to human rights group Defenseurs Plus.
The NGO’s estimate differs significantly from official police figures of 16 deaths in the rural Artibonite region.
In recent years, Haiti has battled powerful gangs, and related violence has made the country one of the most dangerous countries in the world.
The Artibonite region, the country’s main agricultural center, is one of the hardest-hit areas. Sunday’s violence has been blamed locally on the Gran Grif gang, which was designated a terrorist organization by the United States last year.
Antonal Mortimé, director of the human rights NGO Défenseurs Plus, told Haiti’s Radiotélévision Caraïbes that about 50 houses were set on fire on Sunday.
The United Nations (UN) called on “Haitian authorities to conduct a thorough investigation” and estimated that 10 to 80 people were killed.
According to a recent UN report, there were more than 5,500 deaths between March 2025 and January 2026.
During this period, violence spread in Port-au-Prince, the epicenter of the capital, as gang kidnappings, child trafficking, and sexual harassment occurred on a large scale.
“Since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021, Haiti has entered an unprecedented phase of violence, which we describe as structural: violence is no longer just a crime, but a tool for political and territorial control,” Mortimé said. Latin America Report.
“Armed gangs, mainly used by the power sector and economic elite, now control more than 80% of the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area,” he added.
Mortimé also criticized the country for what he believes has failed to strengthen its judicial system or national police in response to the ongoing crisis. “Impunity has become the norm. Almost none of the mass killings documented by human rights groups have resulted in serious trials. This culture of impunity, fostered by widespread corruption in public institutions, undermines all attempts to restore republican order.”
To control this epidemic, Mortimé emphasizes that comprehensive reform of the government and judicial system is needed, as well as controlling illegal arms trafficking. Despite a comprehensive arms embargo in Haiti, the United Nations reports that weapons are being smuggled primarily from the United States due to weak border controls and corruption.
“Haiti’s crisis is a product of a system in which corruption and lack of accountability have replaced the public interest. To curb this violence, we must restore the rule of law and protect the fundamental rights of all citizens,” Mortimé concluded.
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