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A displaced community in a shelter in Delmas, a commune in Haiti’s capital city, Port-Au-Prince. Credit: UNICEF/Herold Joseph

By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, Jan 14 2025 (IPS)

2024 was a transitional period in Haiti’s history, marked by rampant political instability, brutal gang violence, and widespread civilian displacement. Since the eruption of hostilities in March 2024, the Caribbean nation has been in a state of emergency. In response, the United Nations (UN) Security Council approved The Multinational Security Support (MSS) Mission in Haiti to assist the Haitian government in deposing gang activity and restoring order. However, the support mission has been largely ineffective as gangs continue to seize more areas in Haiti.

On January 7 2025, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) issued a report that detailed the deteriorating conditions currently plaguing the Haitian people. According to the report, at least 5,601 people were killed last year in Haiti as a direct result of gang violence, marking an increase of over 1,000 civilian casualties since 2023. Approximately 2,212 people were injured and 1,494 kidnapped as well.

The report also documented at least 315 instances of lynchings subjected to gang members and people allegedly associated with gang activity. According to OHCHR, some of these lynchings were carried out by Haitian police officers. Additionally, there were approximately 281 cases of summary executions involving specialized police units recorded in 2024.

“These figures alone cannot capture the absolute horrors being perpetrated in Haiti but they show the unremitting violence to which people are being subjected. It has long been clear that impunity for human rights violations and abuses, as well as corruption, remain prevalent in Haiti, constituting some of the main drivers of the multi-dimensional crisis the country faces, along with entrenched economic and social inequalities,” said UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk.

December 2024 marked an escalation in hostilities for Haiti. On January 3, 2025, William O’Neill, OHCHR’s Designated Expert on Haiti detailed the most recent attacks on healthcare personnel in Haiti. On December 17, 2024, gang members attacked the Bernard Mevs Hospital in Port-Au-Prince. “Criminal gangs have murdered and kidnapped physicians, nurses and healthcare workers, including humanitarian workers,” said O’Neill, adding that the gangs had “burned, ransacked and destroyed many hospitals and clinics, forcing many to close or suspend their operations”.

On December 24, 2024, gangs attacked the Université d’Etat d’Haiti Hospital (HUEH), resulting in 4 civilian casualties. These attacks have underscored the sheer level of insecurity facing Haiti’s healthcare sector. According to O’Neill, only 37 percent of hospitals in Haiti remain fully functional. Additionally, gangs continue to issue threats of attack on healthcare facilities, making life-saving medical efforts much more difficult.

“The Haitian people – including hundreds of thousands of children living in very precarious conditions – are once again paying the high price of this violence with their right to health severely hindered,” said O’Neill. Healthcare is urgently required at this time due to the sheer influx of injured persons as a result of gang violence as well as the spread of infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis and cholera.

Over 2024, gang violence has led to a surge of internal displacements. According to a press release from the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, nearly 703,000 civilians have been uprooted from their homes in 2024, which is nearly double the amount of displacements recorded in the previous year. Additionally, insecurity has led to an omnipresent hunger crisis, with approximately 5.4 million Haitians facing acute food insecurity, which is nearly half of the nation’s population.

Heightened insecurity has also greatly impeded response efforts from the international community since the wake of this crisis. The UN-backed MSS mission has largely floundered as a result of exacerbated gang violence. In June 2024, Kenya had deployed 400 police officers to assist the Haitian government in deposing gang activity. However, they found themselves outnumbered and overwhelmed by the gang members.

Himmler Rébu, a retired Haitian army colonel and former presidential candidate, informed reporters on the general ineffectiveness of the Kenyan contingent mission’s response, saying, “I heard there were Kenyans in the country, but where are they? Why are they in Haiti if we don’t see any difference? Since the mission’s arrival, gangs have taken several villages and at least seven key towns that had been spared.”

Türk has reiterated the need to scale up MSS responses going forward. “The Multinational Security Support mission in Haiti needs the logistical and financial support it requires to successfully implement its mandate,” he said, adding that there must be a stricter arms embargo to prevent gang members from acquiring firearms and ammunition. Additionally, Türk stated the need for stronger oversight measures from the Haitian National Police (HNP) to track human rights violations and hold perpetrators accountable.

On January 3, 2025, a contingent of 150 Guatemalan soldiers arrived in Haiti as a part of the MSS mission in hopes of restoring security. Normil Rameau, the Director-General of HNP, informed reporters that the most effective way of mitigating gang violence is through a “marriage” between the police and Haitian civilians.

It is also crucial for the MSS mission to receive proper funding to adequately respond to this crisis. The UN Trust Fund for the MSS mission has pledged approximately 96.8 million dollars. However, Miroslav Jenča, Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas, Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations, warns that much more is needed, adding that further delays or gaps in operation would present “a catastrophic risk of the collapse of national security institutions.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Radsport-Star Jonas Vingegaard plant 2025 Grosses: Der zweifache Tour-Sieger will sowohl bei der Tour de France als auch bei der Vuelta antreten.

The EU's trade commissioner said Brussels is prepared to undertake “decisive action to defend the level playing field”.

The post EU accuses China of ‘systematic discrimination’ against medical device manufacturers appeared first on Euractiv.

In der Gemeinde Rain LU haben am Dienstag über Mittag die Sirenen geheult. Der Sirenenalarm sei ein Fehlarm gewesen, hiess es auf der Warn-App Swissalert.

Wer kommt ans WEF, das am kommenden Montag beginnt? Wird Präsident Selenski anreisen oder Elon Musk das Treffen aufmischen? Blick berichtet live ab 14 Uhr über die WEF-Pressekonferenz.

Ein als vermisst gemeldeter Mann wurde am Sonntag tot aufgefunden. Die Umstände sind zurzeit unklar. Die Polizei geht aber nicht von einer Dritteinwirkung aus.

Die französische Minderheitsregierung steht erneut kurz vor einem Misstrauensvotum -  auch dieses Mal geht es um die Rentenreform. Kurz vor seiner Regierungserklärung versucht Premierminister François Bayrou den Widerstand auf der linken Seite der Nationalversammlung zu brechen.

Den Trainer bis Ende Saison hat HC Lugano mit Uwe Krupp gefunden. Weiter offen ist die Position des Sportchefs. Wird es früher oder später Julien Vauclair?

Pendant longtemps, les grandes scènes de la musique classique ont privé les personnes à la peau noire de l'opportunité de présenter au public le talent artistique qui coulait dans leurs veines. Souvent, ce talent était développé dans un environnement totalement hostile et opposé à l'épanouissement de ces traits d'humanité.
La jeune guitariste brésilienne dont il sera question ici, Gabriele Leite, a rêvé dès son enfance, avec des morceaux de bois entre les mains, de devenir un jour une grande musicienne, la pauvreté étant une marque profonde de lacolonisation. Mais rien de tout cela ne l'a arrêtée – au contraire, cela l'a renforcée – pour qu'elle devienne l'un des principaux noms de la guitare dans le monde entier.
Née dans la ville de Cerquilho, dans l'intérieur de l'État de São Paulo, Gabriele Leite a débuté ses études musicales en 2005 grâce au projet social Guri, avec une guitare offerte par son grand-oncle l'année précédente. C'est là qu'elle a fait ses premiers pas dans la méthodologie des études formelles de musique. Ensuite, à seulement 10 ans, elle a poursuivi son apprentissage de la guitare au Conservatoire de Musique de Tatuí.

Au fil du temps, la guitariste a perfectionné son style et a reçu une reconnaissance notable grâce à de nombreux prix remportés lors de festivals de musique organisés dans diverses régions du Brésil, ainsi que dans des pays comme les États-Unis et l'Allemagne. Sa perspicacité et sa constance lui ont permis, à l'âge de 22 ans, d'obtenir l'admission tant convoitée à un programme de master (et par la suite de doctorat) dans une prestigieuse école de musique nord-américaine.
Son premier album, Territórios, a été enregistré en 2023 à New York, ville où la guitariste réside depuis 2020. Cet opus inaugural retrace les chemins parcourus par l'artiste tout au long de sa carrière, passant par des institutions telles que le
Projet Guri, le Conservatoire de Tatuí, Cultura Artística, l'UNESP et la Manhattan School of Music. Ces lieux ont été déterminants pour la consolidation de son statut de grande instrumentiste sur la scène musicale mondiale.
Piste après piste, on a l'impression de feuilleter les pages du journal intime de la guitariste. L'album se compose de 10 morceaux, correspondant à 10 défis techniques et à 10 moments différents de sa vie et de son parcours artistique. Chacun d'eux condense des années de travail acharné pour aboutir à un résultat musical impressionnant, aussi bien dans l'univers de la musique classique que dans tout autre répertoire accompagné par la guitare.
Gabriele a été sélectionnée parmi les trente célébrités de moins de 30 ans les plus influentes du monde par le magazine Forbes Under. C'est la première fois qu'une femme noire et guitariste classique figure à ce niveau de la publication.
De plus en plus, l'artiste brésilienne conquiert de nouveaux Territórios tant à l'intérieur qu'à l'extérieur de l'univers musical, faisant remarquer sa présence
grâce à la force de son talent, qui inspire et forme de nouveaux guitaristes et guitaristes partout où sa musique parvient.
Auteur : DiegoJandira

Central African Republic appoint former Liverpool, West Ham and Cameroon defender Rigobert Song as their new head coach.

Ex-Preisüberwacher Rudolf Strahm befürchtet mehr Steuerbürokratie, wenn der Eigenmietwert abgeschafft wird. Grund ist das umstrittene Berechnungsmodell für den Steuerabzug bei den Schuldzinsen.

Israeli drones targeted a clearly marked World Central Kitchen aid killing seven aid convoy in the Gaza Strip killing seven aid workers. Credit: Tasnim News Agency

By Ed Holt
BRATISLAVA, Jan 14 2025 (IPS)

Humanitarian aid operations in some places may become impossible in the future, experts have warned, as a new report shows a dramatic rise in the use of armed drones in conflict zones.

The report Hovering Threats The Challenges of Armed Drones in Humanitarian Contexts by Insecurity Insight, released on January 14, shows that recorded incidents directly affecting aid and health care programmes in conflict zones rose almost four-fold in the last year and that the share of drone-delivered explosives among all incidents where explosive weapons impacted aid or health care doubled.

It also warns that given that it is considerably cheaper to deliver explosive munitions with drones compared to piloted aircraft and that drone use carries minimal risk to operators, coupled with the increasing availability of components on both military and commercial markets, the frequency of drone use in conflict and with it the number of incidents where aid operations are affected is likely to rise in the coming years—both in scale and in the number of affected countries and territories.

“There could be some time where aid organizations will not be able to work in some conflict zones [because of the risks associated with drones],” Christina Wille, Director of Insecurity Insight, told IPS.

The report highlights how the use of drones in conflict zones has expanded exponentially in the last two decades, and especially in the last few years. This is increasingly impacting aid and healthcare in those areas, killing and injuring health and aid workers and destroying aid infrastructure, including warehouses, IDP or refugee camps, and health facilities and ambulances.

Insecurity Insight’s research shows that armed actors’ use of drones has been a factor in conflict dynamics since 2001, but the first recorded instances of drone-delivered explosives impacting health care services were not until 2016. Until 2022, the number of recorded incidents directly affecting aid and health care programmes remained below ten per year.

By 2023, however, 84 incidents of drone use directly impacting aid operations or health services were recorded, and this figure surged to 308 incidents in 2024. Additionally, the geographic spread of drone-related incidents directly affecting aid or health services expanded from five countries or territories in 2022 to twelve in 2024. The share of drone-delivered explosives among all incidents where explosive weapons impacted aid or health care in conflict zones increased from 6 percent in 2023 to 12 percent in 2024.

The report also says that during this period, for the first time, explosive weapons were the most commonly recorded form of violence directly affecting aid or health operations.

The organization says that between 2016 and 2024, at least 21 aid workers and 73 health workers, six of whom worked for health NGOs, were reportedly killed in drone attacks.

Aid operations or health care services in conflict zones were directly impacted by drone-delivered explosive weapons in at least 426 documented incidents.

The majority of incidents of drone-delivered explosives that affected aid operations or health care in conflict-affected areas documented by Insecurity Insight involved Russian and Israeli forces, and the impact of drone use on aid organizations operating in conflict zones in Ukraine and Gaza has been stark.

In Gaza, since the beginning of Israeli forces’ offensive against Hamas following the group’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, aid organizations in the region say healthcare and humanitarian operations have been devastated by Israeli strikes, some of which have involved the use of drones.

In Ukraine, the situation is similar.

Pavlo Smyrnov, Deputy Executive Director of the Ukrainian healthcare NGO Alliance for Public Health (APH), which has been running aid and healthcare programmes in Ukraine, including in front-line areas, since Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country, said the risks to aid workers from drones were now so great that some areas had become off-limits to them.

“Because of drones, it is difficult to work in some places and impossible to work in others. In some places there are just so many drones we can’t work, and in other areas we can still work, but that work is much more limited,” he told IPS.

However, the report points out that the use of drones is rising in other conflicts around the world. In 2023, the use of drone-delivered explosives affecting aid or health operations was reported for the first time in Burkina Faso, Lebanon and Sudan. In 2024, incidents involving drone-delivered explosives that impacted aid or health care were reported from more countries and territories, including for the first time in Chechnya, Colombia, Mali, Niger and Russia.

Experts say this proliferation of drone use is not just dangerous in itself—proliferation of any weapon increases risk—but because their specific nature means their use threatens to create bloodier conflicts where previously accepted humanitarian laws and rules of war will be more frequently broken.

“What is particularly worrying is how these weapons change the way combat is carried out. When you have people directly confronting each other, who knows what will drive people to make decisions [on weapons use] in these circumstances? But these drones are being used remotely, often by people a long way away, in rooms. It’s almost like playing a video game,” said Wille.

“What we can expect drone operators to do may be very different from what happens in a situation where someone feels their own life under threat because they are in a combat situation with a direct adversary. To some extent, the use of drones has led to prescribed norms being more frequently ignored by conflict parties and also because using drones to deliver explosives is so much cheaper. If you have to spend half a million dollars to hit a target, you will self-restrain because of the cost, but if it costs much less, it is easier to just say, ‘OK, we’ll hit a target now because we feel like it’. The drones have removed a lot of the cost barriers [that led to conflict parties using some restraint in their attacks],” she added.

Experts have also linked these rising attacks with a lack of meaningful global action over deadly military strikes on health and humanitarian operations in war zones, particularly those seen in Ukraine and Gaza.

“In the past, many conflict parties may have felt constrained in what they could do because they would fear some serious reprimand, even from allied states, but that seems to have disappeared now. Other regimes see states getting away [with attacking humanitarian groups] and are emboldened to do the same themselves,” said Wille.

She said this was making it much harder for aid agencies to know where they can safely operate.

“They cannot rely on parties to conflicts to regulate their actions to ensure they stay within prescribed norms,” she said.

Another problem related to drone attacks is that civilian populations in areas of conflict have begun to associate all drones with nefarious or lethal operations against them.

“One of the key challenges with the multiplication of drones in conflict and humanitarian contexts is their psychological and ‘chilling’ effect: a lot of people/civilians in those contexts associate drones with possible attacks or surveillance. The more drones there are, the more worried and ‘paranoid’ people become,” Pierrick Devidal, Senior Policy Advisor at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), told IPS.

“Because it is virtually impossible for people to distinguish drones used for civilian/humanitarian and military purposes, this lack of distinction compounds the problem and deepens an atmosphere of fear and anxiety. These perceptions and psychological issues are likely to create problems for humanitarian organizations wanting to use drones for humanitarian/operational purposes, as those uses may be (mis)perceived as related to military/security objectives,” Devidal added.

The Insight Insecurity report has a list of recommendations for measures aid agencies can take to mitigate the risks posed by the use of armed drones, including not just practical operative measures to ensure safety if drones are in an area but also the use of humanitarian diplomacy and deconfliction to avoid being targeted.

However, experts say with parties in conflicts appearing to be uninterested, or unable, to observe deconfliction agreements and the costs of implementing safety measures increasingly prohibitive—for example, in some places here you cannot operate anywhere in a vehicle without having a drone jamming device on your car—this is a requirement set by the police. These are expensive though,” said Smyrnov—many groups will struggle to keep operations going in areas where drones are frequently used.

“If the risks [of operating in a conflict zone] increase so too do the costs for the aid agencies,” said Wille.

“Security risks from the use of drones, e.g., mistargeting, drones failing and falling, etc., represent an additional security risk—a source of risks that did not exist before—in conflict and humanitarian settings to which civilians and humanitarian organizations will have to adjust and adapt. This will require more resources, time and energy that will not be spent in delivering aid. In short, it is not good news,” added Devidal.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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