Human Rights Watch calls for safeguards for Haitian security force

FILE PHOTO: A police officer takes position during an anti-gang operation amid gang violence in Port-au-Prince, Haiti March 3, 2023. REUTERS/Ralph Tedy Erol/File Photo

(Reuters) - International security assistance for Haiti's police should include safeguards to prevent abuses, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said, as debate intensifies over a Kenya-led force to help stem worsening gang violence.

Haiti's unelected government requested urgent help last October as heavily-armed gangs expanded their control over large parts of the country, driving a humanitarian crisis amid bloody turf wars that have displaced some 200,000 people.