ハイチで殺人・レイプ・誘拐が横行　国連、「衝撃的」と警鐘

【国連ＡＦＰ＝時事】国連は２６日、中米ハイチでギャングによる暴力が急増しているとして、秩序回復に向け国際部隊の派遣を改めて呼び掛けた。（写真ギャングの暴力が横行するハイチの首都ポルトープランス中心部をパトロールする警官。）
　ハイチ問題に関する国連特使のマリア・イサベル・サルバドル氏は安全保障理事会で、首都ポルトープランスや周辺地域のかつて比較的安全とされていた地区で、過去３か月間に暴力犯罪が「衝撃的な」ペースで増加していると指摘した。
　ハイチ警察と国連の統計によると、殺人、レイプ、誘拐、リンチなど暴力犯罪の件数は今年１～３月は１６４７件と、前年同期（６９２件）の２倍以上になった。
　同氏は、国連が行った聞き取り調査の結果、「ギャングが集団レイプを含む性的暴力を通じ、対抗勢力の支配地域の住民に恐怖と苦痛を与えている実態」も明らかになったと述べた。
　凶悪犯罪の犠牲者には子どもも含まれ、教室で撃たれたり、学校への送迎の車から降りたところで誘拐されたりする事件も起きているという。
　一方、首都では今週、住民がギャング組織の構成員とみられる十数人に投石し、生きたまま焼く事件もあった。
　サルバドル氏は、警察がほとんど機能しない中、「自分たちの手で問題解決を図ろうとする」住民が現れ始めていると指摘。こうした動きは「地域全体に予測不能な結果をもたらし、社会基盤の崩壊につながる」恐れがあると警鐘を鳴らした。
　ハイチでは２０２１年７月、コロンビア人傭兵を中心とする武装集団によってジョブネル・モイーズ大統領が暗殺されたのをきっかけに、治安が悪化の一途をたどっている。
　国連のアントニオ・グテレス事務総長は数か月前から安保理に対し、秩序回復を支援する国際部隊の派遣を求めているが、主導しようとする国が見当たらない状況だ。
　安保理に出席したハイチのジャン・ビクトル・ジェネウス外相は、過去４８時間にも治安は一段と悪化しているとし、「手遅れになる前に迅速な行動を」と訴えた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/04/27-16:07）

Gang violence in Haiti is spreading at an alarming rate, the UN warned Wednesday, repeating its unanswered call for an international force to help restore order in the crisis-torn country.
From lynchings and rooftop snipers to the murder of children, a shocking increase in violent crimes over the past three months is inflicting terror on Haiti's population, a UN envoy said.
Gang violence is expanding at an alarming rate in areas previously considered relatively safe in Port-au-Prince and outside the capital, Maria Isabel Salvador, special representative to Haiti told the Security Council.
The diplomat cited figures from the Haitian National Police and the United Nations that showed the number of reported violent crimes -- including murders, rapes, kidnappings and lynchings -- more than doubling in the first quarter of 2023.
She said 1,647 such incidents were recorded, compared to 692 in the same period in 2022.
The horrific violence in gang-ridden areas, including sexual violence, particularly against women and girls, is emblematic of the terror afflicting much of Haiti's population, Salvador added.
She said that interviews carried out by the UN indicate that gangs continue to use sexual violence, including multiple perpetrator rape, to terrorize and inflict pain on populations living in areas under the control of their rivals.
She added children are among the victims of the most heinous crimes, including killings, kidnappings, and rape.
Over the last three months, school children have been hit by bullets while sitting in their classrooms and kidnapped when being dropped off at school, Salvador told diplomats.
The Ecuadoran said that some residents -- faced with increasingly violent armed gangs vying for control of neighborhoods in Port-au-Prince and with little to no police presence -- have begun to take matters in their own hands.
On Monday, more than a dozen suspected gang members were stoned and burned alive in the capital by residents, according to police and witnesses.
These dynamics lead indefectibly to the breakdown of social fabric with unpredictable consequences for the entire region, Salvador said.
- 'Act quickly' -
Ghada Waly, director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), warned the meeting that new dynamics of groups operating outside Port-au-Prince are seeking to enlist new recruits in camps for displaced people.
The flows of illicit firearms and drugs into Haiti are compounding the situation, fueling violence and adding complex challenges, she added.
In a report released this week, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that insecurity in Port-au-Prince has reached levels comparable to countries in armed conflict.
The United Nations chief has for months been asking the Security Council to send a specialized non-UN international armed force to help police restore order.
While some countries have indicated a willingness to participate, none have come forward to take the lead.
We must act quickly before it is too late, Haitian Foreign Minister Jean Victor Geneus told the Council, saying security had deteriorated considerably in the past 48 hours.
US representative Jeffrey DeLaurentis said the United States continues to work with a growing number of international partners to support Haiti's urgent security needs.
He also called for additional sanctions against those who finance and foment violence and instability in the country.
The Security Council introduced an individual sanctions regime in October, which so far only covers one person -- gang leader Jimmy Cherizier who is known as Barbecue.
Haiti is the poorest country in the Americas and has suffered years of humanitarian, economic and political crises.
The assassination of Haitian president Jovenel Moise in July 2021 by an armed group made up primarily of around 20 Colombian mercenaries deepened its crises.