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Human Rights Watch says drone strikes in Haiti have killed nearly 1,250 people

163 points by e12e

by adamiscool8

3 subcomments

The title framing is weird when the report says maybe 5% of the 1250 were civilians, and the same rights group also reports more than 1500 civilians [0] killed over the same period in the horrific and rampant gang violence the government is using this technology to fight against.
[0] https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2026/country-chapters/haiti

by bawolff

2 subcomments

> Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Tuesday that drone strikes carried out in Haiti over the past year have killed at least 1,243 people, including 17 children, many of whom had no apparent links to the criminal groups the attacks seek to squash.
> Launched by Haitian law enforcement forces and private contractors working for Vectus Global between March 1, 2025, and Jan. 21, 2026, the strikes also injured at least 738 people, according to the organization’s report. At least 49 of the injured appeared to have no ties to gangs or other criminal groups.
The first paragraph made it sound like the majority were bystanders, while the second made it sound like it was 5%.
Maybe that is still unacceptable collateral damage, but it'd be nice if the article was more specific than "many" so we know what we are actually talking about here.

by theoa

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It bears remembering that all of this was reported by a group of Haitians in Brooklyn who publish and staff the Haitian Times.
They deserve recognition for maintaining the standards of good journalism in what is, by any measure, a difficult era.

by itsthecourier

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"Haitian authorities must urgently take control of the security forces and the private companies working on their behalf before more children die,” said Juanita Goebertus, director of the Americas Program at Human Rights Watch."
wow, such an insight, how didn't they think about that before?
yeah, complaining about 1200 killings, without considering the rape/killings/displacement that would happen in their absence by Viv Ansamn

by throwaway5752

2 subcomments

Of course it is Erik Prince's company.
to clarify: Erik Prince founded Blackwater, of the Nisour Square Massacre infamy in the GW Bush administration. He is deeply tied to Republican politics, mercenary work, and particularly the Trump administration. He is IPOing an autonomous lethal drone company, Swarmer, and his other company, Vectrus, is behind the events of this article.

by riffic

2 subcomments

by aaron695

0 subcomment

by system7rocks

1 subcomments

by vkou

3 subcomments

If we can get AI further into this process, we can fully launder all responsibility from the humans ordering these.

by system7rocks

5 subcomments

If you are a tech guy and working with drones or any AI company that has even a bare relationship to some security firm, you have a few options:
1 - Immediately share all information and intel with the public so as to spare any judicial accountability. 2 - Quit. 3 - Prepare to go to jail for the rest of your life. This is profoundly evil.