Haiti

Human Rights Watch says drone strikes by Haitian forces kill more than 1,200 people in and near Port-au-Prince since 2025.

Drone strikes operated by Haitian security forces and private contractors have killed at least 1,243 people and injured 738 in Haiti, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reports.

Since March last year, Haitian security forces with support from Vectus Global, a United States-licensed private military firm, have carried out antigang operations using quadcopter drones strapped with explosives, often in densely populated parts of the ⁠capital, Port-au-Prince.

The report found strikes from March 1, 2025, to January 21 in West Department, where Port-au-Prince is located, have killed 17 children and 43 adults not believed to be members of any criminal groups.

“Haitian authorities should urgently rein in the security forces and private contractors working for them before more children die,” Juanita Goebertus, Americas director at HRW, said in a statement.

The nonprofit said the number of drone attacks in Port-au-Prince, which is 90 percent controlled by gangs, has “significantly increased” in recent months, with 57 reported from November to late January, almost double that of the 29 attacks reported from August through October

HRW said its researchers analysed seven videos uploaded to social media or shared directly with the group that show quadcopter drones in action and geolocated four of them to Port-au-Prince.

“The videos show the repeated use of drones equipped with explosives to attack vehicles and people, some of them armed, but none who appear to be engaged in violent acts or pose any imminent threat to life,” the group said.

‘There are innocent people’

HRW said it did not find widespread drone use among criminal groups.

One of the attacks highlighted in the report occurred on September 20 in the Simon Pele neighbourhood, an impoverished community controlled by a gang of the same name.

The drone attack killed nine people, including three children, and injured at least eight as the leader of the Simon Pele gang prepared to distribute gifts to children in the area.

HRW quoted one unnamed resident as recalling how the explosion ripped both feet off a baby.

Among those killed was a six-year-old girl whose unidentified mother was quoted as saying: “In the spaces where the gangs are, there are innocent people, people who raise their children, who follow normal paths.”

The families of those killed said the criminal group organised and controlled access to their funerals, according to Human Rights Watch.

Last month, the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti said it had no ‌indications ‌the deaths and injuries were being investigated.

HRW said there was no evidence drones were being used widely by gangs. The UN’s high commissioner for human rights said in October that the drone strikes were disproportionate and likely unlawful.

The State Department has denied visas for members of a Jamaican soccer team scheduled to play the Galaxy on Wednesday in the round of 16 of the CONCACAF Champions Cup, raising concerns that the Trump administration could bar players from traveling to the U.S. for this summer’s World Cup as well.

A CONCACAF source with knowledge of the issue not authorized to discuss it publicly said the organization was aware of the problem and working with the team to appeal the decision. The Champions Cup is the most prestigious club tournament in CONCACAF, the 41-nation FIFA confederation that governs soccer in North America, Central America and the Caribbean.

Mount Pleasant FA, champion of last year’s CONCACAF Caribbean Cup and runner-up in the last two Jamaican Premier League tournaments, is playing in the Champions Cup for the first time. The team has six Haitian players on its roster, and Haiti is one of 19 countries whose citizens have been banned from entering the U.S by the Trump administration. Citizens from an additional 20 countries faced partial restrictions.

“This decision raises serious concern about the administration’s willingness to abide by its own agreement and statements regarding the issuance of visas for the World Cup,” said David J. Bier, director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute. “The President’s proclamation clearly exempts athletes and necessary support personnel for ‘major sporting events.’ But apparently, this exception is not being applied in all cases.”

The State Department has the ability, under the Presidential Proclamation exception, to grant entry to “athletes, coaches and essential support staff” from any country traveling to the U.S. for “the World Cup, Olympics or other major sporting event as determined by the secretary of state.”

Despite that, eight members of Cuba’s delegation to the World Baseball Classic — among them federation president Juan Reinaldo Pérez Pardo and pitching coach Pedro Luis Lazo — had their visa requests denied. Under the Trump administration’s rules, Cuban citizens are subject to the same travel restrictions as Haitians.

However, Haiti and Jamaica were able to play in last summer’s Gold Cup soccer tournament in the U.S. without issue. The State Department did not respond to requests for comment.

The CONCACAF source said the confederation hopes to reach an agreement with the State Department but added that Mount Pleasant’s game with the Galaxy will go forward either way. The club, which is scheduled to depart Sunday, told a Jamaican newspaper that up to 10 players have been denied visas and coming to Los Angeles without them would require it to rely on seven or eight players from the team’s youth academy to fill out the roster.

“We don’t want to just show up for the game, we want to be able to compete, but we are not being given the opportunity to be at our best,” Paul Christie, the team’s sporting director, told the Jamaica Observer.

The teams will meet in the second and deciding leg of the two-game playoff March 19 at National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica. Mount Pleasant is expected to be at full strength for that game.

The State Department’s approach to the visa requests for the Cuban baseball delegation and Jamaican soccer team raise questions about how the Trump administration will handle visa requests ahead of this summer’s World Cup. Four tournament qualifiers are impacted by the administration’s travel restrictions, with citizens of Iran — a country with which the U.S. is at war — and Haiti facing a total ban, and those from Senegal and Ivory Coast subject to severe restrictions.

Members of Iran’s delegation were refused entry to the U.S. for December’s World Cup draw in Washington, during which FIFA president Gianni Infantino presented President Trump with the FIFA Peace Prize. And last summer, Senegal’s women’s basketball team was forced to cancel a 10-day training camp in the U.S. when visa requests for five players, six staff members and a ministerial delegation were rejected.