UN warns that gang violence is overwhelming Haiti’s once peaceful central region

By DÁNICA COTO and EVENS SANON
Associated Press

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The U.N. says gangs are invading Haiti’s rural central region and suffocating a once peaceful area that served as the country’s food basket but that is now plagued by kidnappings, killings and rapes. A report released Tuesday by the U.N. Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner found that only a handful of powerful gangs operate in Lower Artibonite. But they have been able to lay waste to numerous communities given their remote location, sparse police presence and a lack of basic government institutions in the area. The U.N. says the situation in central Haiti requires a swift response. It also is expressing concern about the delay in the deployment of a Kenya-led foreign armed force approved last month.