At least 5,700 people were killed or injured in Haiti between 1 January and 11 September, according to a new update delivered to the Human Rights Council. The documented toll covers people harmed by gangs as well as people harmed during operations against them; it is not a death toll. The office compiling the figures said the true total was probably higher.
The update puts fresh detail on the risks facing civilians while armed groups continue to alter their areas of operation. It records more than 230 abductions and reports that over 1,000 women and girls were raped during the same reporting period. Those figures describe documented cases and should not be read as a complete count of all harm.
Operations are part of the casualty picture
More than half of the year’s casualties occurred in the context of security operations, the update says. Hundreds of people were struck by stray bullets and explosive drones. It raises concerns about the unnecessary and disproportionate use of force by law-enforcement bodies, while also acknowledging the acute threat posed by gangs.
Specialised police units were said to have carried out substantially fewer summary executions than in 2025. Even so, the update says people alleged to be associated with gangs continue to be summarily executed. It also records about 280 people killed or injured by so-called self-defence groups in some areas this year. The statement does not determine responsibility for particular incidents.
Armed groups seek new routes and territory
Gangs have been contained in parts of Port-au-Prince, but the assessment says they are reappearing elsewhere and rearming. It points to recent attacks in Kenscoff and Gressier and a growing gang presence in the Sud-Est department as signs of a push towards new territory and key transport routes. That pattern, it says, threatens stability within Haiti and beyond it.
The first operations of the Gang Suppression Force were described as an important move towards improved security. However, the force remains well below the strength considered necessary. The renewed mandate, agreed earlier this week, was presented as needing to be followed by faster, full deployment, adequate equipment and firm human-rights safeguards. That makes the new update distinct from the earlier decision to extend the force’s authorisation: it assesses conditions on the ground and sets out new documented consequences.
Daily life, children and detention
Violence, extortion, looting and property destruction are disrupting work and preventing people from reaching schools, hospitals and other essential services, the update says. More than half of Haitians are facing acute food insecurity, while 40% lack basic healthcare. Nearly 1.5 million people are forcibly displaced.
The office estimates that children account for between 30% and 50% of gang members. Recruitment and use of children by gangs nearly tripled in 2025, it says, against a backdrop in which some children may see a gang as a means of survival. The statement also describes prisons as operating at more than three times their official capacity on average, with at least 125 people reported to have died in detention this year.
Calls for safeguards and accountability
The update urges states to support the force’s deployment while respecting human rights, and calls on Haitian authorities to ensure that security operations comply with international law. It also presses for effective implementation of the arms embargo, work against arms trafficking and stronger justice institutions. Two specialised judicial units are intended to investigate mass atrocities, sexual violence and complex financial crimes, but the statement says they must become fully operational.
It further questions whether conditions for credible elections later this year are in place. Free and fair elections remain central to restoring constitutional order, the update says, but it argues that security, accountability and sustained international support are needed if that prospect is to become realistic.
