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Edited News | OHCHR
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk’s Oral update to the Human Rights Council on the situation in Haiti
“International commitment and backing for this are urgent. Without them, the worst may be yet to come for Haiti and the broader region. More than 16,000 people have been killed and some 7,000 people injured in armed violence since 1 January 2022, when we began our monitoring on gang related violence,” Türk said.
Gangs are spreading fear beyond the capital, Port-au-Prince, into nearby regions, including in the Lower Artibonite and in the Centre department, creating a fertile ground for further cross-border arms, drugs, and human trafficking, which threaten to destabilize the wider sub-region.
“An estimated 270,000 to 500,000 firearms are circulating illegally in Haiti, with most weapons in the hands of gangs.Gangs are killing and kidnapping people, extorting them at illegal checkpoints, hijacking trucks transporting food and other supplies, and burning and destroying homes, hospitals, schools, and public buildings,” the High Commissioner said.
“They are committing widespread sexual violence to assert dominance and territorial influence, and displace people. The gangs kidnap women and girls, and subject them to extreme brutality, including killing and sexual exploitation,” he added.
The UN Human Rights Office is working with the authorities to step up investigations and prosecutions, including through Specialised Judicial Units. The High Commissioner urged strong support for programmes to protect victims of sexual violence.
Half of Haiti's population – six million people, including 3.3 million children - need humanitarian aid. Some 1.3 million people, half of them children, have fled their homes. Haiti is now among the five global food insecurity hotspots of highest concern.
“De plus en plus d'enfants sont victimes de traite, d'exploitation et de recrutement forcé par les gangs. Ils sont utilisés comme messagers, guetteurs ou porteurs d'armes, et sont parfois contraints de combattre contre des gangs rivaux, les forces de sécurité, et des groupes dits d'autodéfense. Nous ne pouvons qu'imaginer l'impact à long terme pour les enfants d'Haïti et pour la société dans son ensemble” Türk said.
(“More children are being subjected to trafficking, exploitation and forced recruitment by the gangs. They are used as couriers, lookouts, or weapons carriers, and are sometimes coerced into combat roles against rival gangs, security forces and so-called self-defense groups. We can only imagine the long-term impact, for the children of Haiti, and for society as a whole,”)
“I am concerned that State law enforcement have used unnecessary and disproportionate lethal force in their operations against the gangs. For example, operations by law enforcement account for more than half of killings and injuries so far this year - a steep increase compared to 2024. Almost one third of people killed or injured were hit by stray bullets,” he added.
Specialised police units have summarily executed 174 people this year for alleged affiliation with gangs.
“Since March, the Government has stepped up its use of explosive drones in its anti-gang operations in Port-au-Prince. As of mid-September, drone strikes have killed at least 559 people, including 11 children. Most of these drone strikes are likely unlawful under international human rights law,” the High Commissioner stated.
He said so-called self-defence groups and spontaneous angry mobs have killed more than 500 alleged gang members this year -- with the alleged support of police officers.
“A spiral of violence between gang members, the population, and the security forces will only add to people’s feelings of insecurity. Efforts to restore security need to be rooted in human rights and go hand in hand with rebuilding the rule of law and justice in the country.”
“The people of Haiti need the unwavering attention and support of the international community,” he said.
“I urge States to support the Gang Suppression Force with sufficient funding and personnel. It is vital to ensure that robust human rights safeguards underpin its work,” Türk concluded.
ENDS
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STORY: UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk’s Oral update to the Human Rights Council on the situation in Haiti
TRT: 02:17
SOURCE: OHCHR / UNOG
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: English-French/NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 02 October 2025 – GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
- Exterior shot: Palais des Nations
- Wide shot: Assembly Hall
- Wide shot: Podium
- SOUNDBITE (English)— Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: “International commitment and backing for this are urgent. Without them, the worst may be yet to come for Haiti and the broader region. More than 16,000 people have been killed and some 7,000 people injured in armed violence since 1 January 2022, when we began our monitoring on gang related violence.”
- Cutaway: Assembly Hall
- SOUNDBITE (English)— Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: “An estimated 270,000 to 500,000 firearms are circulating illegally in Haiti, with most weapons in the hands of gangs.Gangs are killing and kidnapping people, extorting them at illegal checkpoints, hijacking trucks transporting food and other supplies, and burning and destroying homes, hospitals, schools, and public buildings.”
- Cutaway: Assembly Hall
- SOUNDBITE (English)— Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: “They are committing widespread sexual violence to assert dominance and territorial influence, and displace people. The gangs kidnap women and girls, and subject them to extreme brutality, including killing and sexual exploitation.”
- Cutaway: Assembly Hall
- SOUNDBITE (French)— Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: “ De plus en plus d'enfants sont victimes de traite, d'exploitation et de recrutement forcé par les gangs. Ils sont utilisés comme messagers, guetteurs ou porteurs d'armes, et sont parfois contraints de combattre contre des gangs rivaux, les forces de sécurité, et des groupes dits d'autodéfense. Nous ne pouvons qu'imaginer l'impact à long terme pour les enfants d'Haïti et pour la société dans son ensemble.”
“More children are being subjected to trafficking, exploitation and forced recruitment by the gangs. They are used as couriers, lookouts, or weapons carriers, and are sometimes coerced into combat roles against rival gangs, security forces and so-called self-defense groups. We can only imagine the long-term impact, for the children of Haiti, and for society as a whole.”
- Cutaway: Assembly Hall
- SOUNDBITE (English)— Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: “I
am concerned that State law enforcement have used unnecessary and disproportionate lethal force in their operations against the gangs. For example, operations by law enforcement account for more than half of killings and injuries so far this year - a steep increase compared to 2024. Almost one third of people killed or injured were hit by stray bullets.”
- Cutaway: Assembly Hall
- SOUNDBITE (English)— Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: “Since March, the Government has stepped up its use of explosive drones in its anti-gang operations in Port-au-Prince. As of mid-September, drone strikes have killed at least 559 people, including 11 children. Most of these drone strikes are likely unlawful under international human rights law.”
- Cutaway: Assembly Hall
- SOUNDBITE (English)— Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: “A spiral of violence between gang members, the population, and the security forces will only add to people’s feelings of insecurity. Efforts to restore security need to be rooted in human rights and go hand in hand with rebuilding the rule of law and justice in the country.”
- Cutaway: Assembly Hall
- SOUNDBITE (English)— Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: “The people of Haiti need the unwavering attention and support of the international community.”
- Cutaway: Assembly Hall
- SOUNDBITE (English)— Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: “I urge States to support the Gang Suppression Force with sufficient funding and personnel. It is vital to ensure that robust human rights safeguards underpin its work.”
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New data showing that rivers were at their lowest level for decades last year provides further evidence that the climate crisis is real and countries must act immediately to protect themselves from the increasing threat to communities and livelihoods, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday.
The key findings from WMO’s State of Global Water Resources 2025 report covering the hydrological cycle and extreme events in the five-year period to last year:
- 2025 was one of driest years for river discharge in 35 years
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Highlighting the long-term decline in the Earth’s freshwater storage and glacier melt, WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo explained that the planet’s water reserves used to act as a planetary “savings account” that absorbed the occasional dry season, avoiding a water crisis. “One of the central stories of the 2025 report is what is happening to that savings account? And the simple answer is that we are depleting it,” she told journalists in Geneva.
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Glaciers disappearing
In 2025, for the fourth consecutive year, every major glaciated region on Earth lost ice mass, leading to short-term hazards including floods and long-term water insecurity, according to WMO.
Responding to a question about whether the changing global water cycle might have contributed to the deadly Nepal-China flooding disaster, Ms. Saulo explained that melting ice and rock was just one factor in the chain of events that ultimately sent a massive and deadly wall of water and debris downstream on 26 August, killing at least 1,367 people.
“You asked if it could happen again? Absolutely; the problem in this region is that there’s 63,700 glaciers at the last count,” she told a Press Conference in Geneva. “Even if you’re looking with remote sensing with satellites at these glaciers, you might see some faults, you might see some slight shifting, that does not mean necessarily catastrophic collapse. So, in order to plan for this, it’s very, very difficult. But the international community is looking very hard at ways in which we can bring people together to solve some of these monitoring issues.”
Data indicates that glaciers shrank between 2023 and 2025 with cumulative losses of 1,400 gigatonnes of water – or about one third of annual fresh water needs.
Every major glacier region on Earth lost ice for the fourth consecutive year.
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“After this point, the glacier gives less meltwater each year simply because there is less ice left to melt. That matters for every community downstream that relies on water during hot, dry summers,” he explained.
Narelle van der Wel, WMO’s Head of Cryosphere Monitoring, Predictions and Services, stressed that while some further glacier loss is unavoidable, the eventual scale of the decline is not predetermined.
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The report does not attribute every observed change to climate change alone. WMO says pressure on water resources and natural variability also contribute.
Mr. Jenkinson said governments need to prepare for “moving baselines” as historical patterns become less reliable.
“The situation 30 years ago is not where we are today,” he said. Countries, he added, need to prepare “for those changes that have really already arrived”.
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