UN: Tougher measures needed to stem gang violence in Haiti

Youth take cover after hearing gunshots at a public school that serves as a shelter for people displaced by gang violence, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, March 22, 2024. United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk holds a press conference in Guatemala City, Guatemala, July 19, 2024. FILE - Police officers patrol after dispersing demonstrators, who were calling for help from the government and security forces after gangs attacked neighborhoods and set houses on fire, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Aug. 19, 2024. FILE - Kenyan police officers patrol as a part of a peacekeeping mission in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, July 17, 2024.

Tougher measures are needed to stem the gang violence in Haiti that has brought the economy and government of the Caribbean nation to its knees by spreading fear and subjugating the population through killings, lootings, exploitation and brutal abuse, according to a report by the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.