Overview:
Human Rights Watch says drone strikes in Haiti over a 10-month interval have killed almost 1,250 individuals, together with 17 youngsters, with no clear hyperlinks to felony teams. Carried out between March 2025 and January 2026 by Haitian safety forces and personal contractors from Erik Prince’s Vectus International, the assaults with bomb-carrying drones over densely populated areas could symbolize extrajudicial killings, the group reported.
PORT-AU-PRINCE — Human Rights Watch (HRW) mentioned Tuesday that drone strikes carried out in Haiti over the previous yr have killed at the least 1,243 individuals, together with 17 youngsters, lots of whom had no obvious hyperlinks to the felony teams the assaults search to squash.
Launched by Haitian regulation enforcement forces and personal contractors working for Vectus International between March 1, 2025, and Jan. 21, 2026, the strikes additionally injured at the least 738 individuals, in response to the group’s report. No less than 49 of the injured appeared to don’t have any ties to gangs or different felony teams.
Vectus is a navy contractor agency based by American businessman and former Navy SEAL Erik Prince. HRW mentioned the forces used explosive-equipped quadcopter drones in densely populated city areas of Port-au-Prince, elevating considerations that some strikes could represent extrajudicial killings.
Given the potential for gangs to make use of weak residents as human shields and Prince’s historical past of civilian abuses in Iraq, many warned Haitian authorities of potential repeats in Haiti when stories of the contract surfaced.
Neither Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, the Haitian Nationwide Police nor Vectus International responded to requests for remark in regards to the particulars within the HRW report.
“Haitian authorities should urgently take management of the safety forces and the non-public corporations engaged on their behalf earlier than extra youngsters die,” mentioned Juanita Goebertus, director of the Americas Program at Human Rights Watch.
No less than 141 operations occurred, HRW’s report states. The United Nations Built-in Workplace in Haiti (BINUH) has mentioned 57 assaults occurred within the capital metropolis between November and January alone, almost double the 29 strikes recorded between August and October 2025.
One strike that drew consideration from the United Nations occurred Sept. 20, 2025, in Simon Pelé, a neighborhood that’s a part of the Cité Soleil. Of the ten individuals killed, 9 had been youngsters ages 3 to 12 who had no obvious connection to felony teams.
HRW mentioned its information reveals a mean of about 9 deaths per strike, with the deadliest operation killing 57 individuals. The strikes occurred throughout 9 municipalities within the West Division: Cabaret, Cité Soleil, Croix-des-Bouquets, Delmas, Kenscoff, Léogâne, Pétion-Ville, Port-au-Prince and Tabarre.
Drones elevate fears for residents, criticism of waste
Residents informed HRW that the drones have fueled extra worry quite than a way of security.
“I dwell in fixed worry and anxiousness,” a service provider within the Martissant neighborhood informed the group. “I pray that the drones not fly over our neighborhood.”
Human Rights Watch mentioned worldwide requirements permit the deliberate use of deadly power solely when strictly crucial to guard life.
“The deliberate and deadly use of firearms and different weapons is just permitted when completely crucial to guard an individual’s life,” the group mentioned. “Any use of power have to be each crucial and proportionate.”
The group criticized using explosive-equipped quadcopter drones able to navigating between buildings and monitoring transferring targets in crowded city neighborhoods. Underneath such situations, the group mentioned, the strikes resemble focused killings quite than typical regulation enforcement operations.
HRW additionally mentioned no main gang leaders have been captured or killed in reference to the drone marketing campaign. Not one of the leaders of Haiti’s strongest gangs have been recognized amongst these killed within the strikes.
For a lot of Haitians residing in gang-controlled areas, every day life has modified little regardless of the expensive safety operations.
“Fifty-two million U.S. {dollars} to fireplace drones into populous neighborhoods,” Fondasyon Je Klere mentioned in its report. “Using drones in these areas causes extra collateral injury among the many civilian inhabitants than it really neutralizes gangs.”
The report comes as questions mount in Haiti over a $52 million safety contract between the Haitian authorities and an organization linked to Prince. Whereas criticism of the operations rises, the strikes seem like persevering with, with native stories rising of a number of drones detonating in downtown Port-au-Prince earlier this week.
Critics say three offers totaling $137 million to construct prisons, present safety and handle Haiti-DR border shift an excessive amount of governmental powers to non-public companies overseas
Thus far, Haitian authorities haven’t launched a public report detailing how the drones are deployed, who authorizes the strikes or what oversight mechanisms govern the operations.
Human Rights Watch famous that Haiti is a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which protects the fitting to life and requires authorities to attenuate hurt to civilians. The group urged the federal government to launch clear investigations into alleged illegal killings and make clear the chain of command behind the drone strikes.
“Authorities should conduct clear investigations into all allegations of illegal killings, maintain these accountable accountable and compensate affected households,” Human Rights Watch mentioned.
“They need to additionally publicly make clear the command construction for drone strikes and the position of personal navy corporations in these operations.”