The Human Rights Section of the Minustah / Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has published a report that analyzes the key elements of lynching in Haiti, a phenomenon well known by Haitians, but that remains poorly documented. The objective of the report is to deconstruct certain myths surrounding this phenomenon and to call on the Haitian authorities to take better account of these cases.

The report recalls that lynching is a crime and not a form of popular justice and emphasizes that homicides by lynching account for 15% of all homicides in Haiti. It states that from 2009 to 2015, there were on average 10 cases of lynching per month, with a slight increase in deaths from lynching, from 7.5 deaths per month in 2009 to 8.1 per month in 2015.

Contrary to popular belief, lynching is essentially an urban phenomenon: 70% of all lynching deaths in Haiti between 2009 and 2015 took place in the west department, where there were 14 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, while the national average, excluding the Department of the West, is 3.4 deaths per lynching per 100,000 inhabitants.

Moreover, the report reveals that in the cases followed by the SDH in recent years, these acts have rarely been the subject of a judicial inquiry, even less of a conviction. Between 2010 and 2015, of the 483 lynching or attempted lynching reported by the Minustah, only 59 resulted in arrests. The report mentioned only one conviction in a lynching case.

The report concludes that in the absence of measures taken by the Haitian authorities to combat lynching, the State is failing to protect its citizens. Among other things, it recommends a better study of the phenomenon in order to better understand it and to develop appropriate intervention strategies.

Download the report "Taking justice into one’s own hands or the reign of impunity in Haiti" : https://www.haitilibre.com/docs/170117_exec_summary_haiti_-_taking_justice_into_ones_own_hands_-_en.pdf

HL/ HaitiLibre