Warnings about the gang-fueled collapse of Haiti are getting louder — and one of the world’s leading human rights groups turned up the volume considerably today.
The New York-based nonprofit Human Rights Watch issued a report — "Living a Nightmare"— urging the U.S. and the international community to intervene in Haiti before gang violence renders the country unlivable.
It says Haitians consider their “dire security situation and their extreme hunger” to be “worse now than at any time they remember.”
The report points out the gangs that control much of Haiti were responsible for more than 2,000 murders in the first half of this year — a 125% increase over the same period last year.
Kidnappings, rapes, and the looting and burning of homes have also spiked — and the gang disruption has deepened food scarcity to the point that Haiti is now one of the countries "most at risk for starvation," a list that includes Sudan and Afghanistan.
READ MORE:Haiti's gangs erupt again after vigilante movement wanes. Can Kenya stop it?
"Living a Nightmare" focuses on communities like the Brooklyn neighborhood on the outskirts of the capital, Port-au-Prince, where gangs like the G9, led by former cop Jimmy "Barbecue" Cherizier, terrorize residents and have all but cut them off from necessities like water and electricity.
Human Rights Watch is calling for some sort of international security effort or force that can restore order while respecting human rights.
Kenya last month said it was willing to lead a campaign to support Haiti's overwhelmed police. The U.N. Security Council is now considering the offer. Whatever the solution, says the HRW report, action needs to be taken more quickly.
It also urges replacing Haiti’s corrupt government — which includes political elites accused of sponsoring gangs as their street enforcers — with an interim administration to organize long overdue national elections.
