Human Rights Watch details deaths and injuries of police drone attacks in Haiti

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP) — Drones operated by Haitian security forces and private contractors have killed at least 1,243 people and injured 738 others, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday.

Of those killed, 17 were children and 43 were adults not believed to be members of any criminal group. Of those injured, at least 49 were believed to be civilians, according to the rights group. The killings took place between March 1, 2025, and Jan. 21, 2026.

The most lethal drone operation killed 57 people, it noted.

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

A spokesperson for Haiti’s National Police did not respond to a request for comment.

The nonprofit said the number of armed drone attacks in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, which is 90% controlled by gangs, has “significantly increased” in recent months, with 57 reported between November and late January, almost double that of the 29 attacks reported from August through October last year.

Human Rights Watch said its researchers analyzed seven videos uploaded to social media or shared directly with the group that show armed 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.

Human Rights Watch said it did not find widespread drone use among criminal groups.

One of the attacks highlighted in the report occurred Sept. 20, 2025, in the Simon Pele neighborhood, an extremely impoverished community controlled by a gang of the same name.

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

Human Rights Watch quoted one unnamed resident recalling how the explosion ripped both feet off a baby.

Among those killed was a 6-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 organized and controlled access to their funerals, according to Human Rights Watch.

“Some residents said that only people who accepted money or support from the criminal group had been allowed to attend the funeral,” the rights group said in its report.

On Jan. 1 of this year, an unidentified woman was quoted as saying that she saw a drone fall and explode onto a truck that was transporting her cousin, killing her.

“Many of these attacks appear to be attempts to target and kill people in circumstances that amount to unlawful, extrajudicial killings,” Human Rights Watch said.

“Authorities should also ensure transparency around and accountability for any unlawful death resulting from a security operation, and conduct prompt, thorough, and independent investigations to disclose, to the greatest extent possible, the number and identity of victims, and provide adequate reparation where violations have occurred,” the rights group added.

Volker Turk, the U.N. human rights chief, has said that the use of lethal force against gangs in Haiti was unnecessary, disproportionate and likely a violation of international law.

Last year, Haiti’s government created a new task force that has operated outside the oversight of Haiti’s National Police and employed the use of explosive drones. The task force is made up of certain police units and private contractors.

In mid-2025, Vectus Global, the security firm of former U.S. Navy Seal Erik Prince, expected to deploy nearly 200 personnel from various countries to Haiti as part of a one-year deal to quell gang violence there.

Haitian police also are working alongside a U.N.-backed mission led by Kenyan police that remains underfunded and understaffed. It is soon expected to transform into a so-called gang suppression force in upcoming months.