PORT-AU-PRINCE — At the least 164 folks have been killed and 23 others injured in the course of the two brutal gang assaults in Kenscoff in July and August, in keeping with a report launched Sept. 16 by the Nationwide Human Rights Protection Community (RNDDH).
The rights group stated 71 folks have been additionally kidnapped in the course of the assaults, whereas dozens of houses and autos have been burned. Victims included ladies, kids, elders and other people with bodily or sensory disabilities.
RNDDH stated the primary assault, in early July, couldn’t be definitively linked to advance planning primarily based on the proof its investigators collected. However the group stated the Aug. 23-24 assault confirmed indicators of intensive preparation by armed teams affiliated with the Viv Ansanm coalition.
“Folks of all ages, whether or not residing with motor or sensory disabilities or not, have been killed,” RNDDH stated in its report. “After shedding all the pieces, a whole lot of households needed to search refuge with family members or in shelters for internally displaced folks.”
The report sharply criticized Haitian authorities, significantly the Superior Council of the Nationwide Police (CSPN), for what RNDDH described as failures to adequately shield residents of Kenscoff, within the mountain above Port-au-Prince, regardless of repeated safety threats.
Police presence lowered earlier than deliberate assaults
The Haitian human rights group reported that specialised police models deployed to Kenscoff have been steadily withdrawn throughout 2026, lowering the variety of officers assigned to watch entry factors into the commune by about 60%.
The RNDDH stated authorities had bolstered safety in Kenscoff in November 2025 after repeated gang incursions. Nevertheless it stated members of specialised models, together with the Anti-Gang Tactical Unit (UTAG), have been later withdrawn for causes that remained unclear.
RNDDH stated the discount in personnel left some positions unguarded and created openings that armed teams exploited.
The group additionally stated a police armored car stationed within the Kafou Malè space was moved shortly earlier than the August assault due to a scarcity of personnel, additional weakening the safety perimeter.
The rights group stated the native police had warned authorities in regards to the threat of one other assault.
On July 27, the Kenscoff police station requested two further armored autos from the West-1 Departmental Directorate of the Haitian Nationwide Police ( PNH), in keeping with RNDDH. The station later requested further operational help, however the group stated neither request was adequately addressed earlier than the August assault.
RNDDH stated its investigators discovered a number of indications that the Aug. 23-24 assault had been fastidiously deliberate.
The report detailed how armed teams used surveillance drones and scouts to watch safety forces and determine routes into Kenscoff. 5 days earlier than the assault, RNDDH stated, a number of gang members and native accomplices allegedly entered the mountainous space of Villier to watch roads, collect info and report on police actions.
The attackers struck a number of areas, whereas residents confronted killings, kidnappings, sexual violence and the destruction of houses and autos.
The group additionally reported sexual violence, together with the rape of a 12-year-old lady.
The assaults compelled a whole lot of households to flee their houses and search shelter with family members or in amenities housing internally displaced folks.
On Aug. 28, gangs claiming accountability for the violence launched a number of hostages, together with kids, to neighborhood chief Luckson “Frè Luckson” Jean with help from UNICEF. Different kidnapped folks remained lacking, RNDDH stated.
RNDDH’s findings are primarily based on its investigation into the July and August assaults. The group didn’t independently set up allegations regarding the planning of the August assault or the conduct of safety forces.
Kenscoff stays underneath risk
The 2 current assaults weren’t the primary main gang assaults on Kenscoff. RNDDH stated armed teams affiliated with Viv Ansanm first launched lethal assaults on the commune in January 2025, leaving not less than 139 folks useless or lacking.
Since then, the group stated armed teams have sought to broaden their presence throughout a number of areas of the commune, all lower than 10 miles from Port-au-Prince, together with Belot, Bongard, Bwa Majò, Chauffard, Godet and Kafou Bèt.
RNDDH additionally pointed to a different assault within the Viard 1 and Viard 2 areas in the course of the evening of Sept. 13-14, shortly earlier than the publication of its report. The assault underscored the persevering with risk to residents, the group stated.
“These episodes of violence illustrate, if there have been any want, the persistent capability of the legal coalition Viv Ansanm to plan and perform repeated offensives in opposition to the civilian inhabitants,” the group stated.
Advocates known as on state authorities to take measures to guard civilians in Kenscoff and all through Haiti and to research the circumstances surrounding the assaults.
“The RNDDH considers it pressing that state authorities take all needed measures to guard the Haitian inhabitants on the whole and the inhabitants of Kenscoff specifically,” the report concluded.
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