HAITI’S children are increasingly embroiled in gang violence, forced to carry weapons, spy on police and rival gangs and run errands for gunmen, according to a report released today by Amnesty International.

One of 51 children interviewed by the rights group said he was constantly put under pressure by a gang to fight alongside it.

“They killed people in front of me and asked me to burn their bodies. But I don’t have the heart for that,” said the unidentified boy.

An estimated 30 to 50 per cent of gang members are now children, according to Unicef.

The children “had no choice, their involvement was predominantly out of hunger or fear,” said Amnesty International.

Nearly two million people are on the verge of starvation in Haiti, and more than one million children are estimated to be living in gang-controlled areas, with 85 per cent of the capital of Port-au-Prince under their rule.

One unidentified boy said he’s paid to run errands for a gang.

“They are in control. And there is nothing you can do about it,” he said.

If children refuse to follow a gang’s orders, they or their family would be killed, according to the report, which relied on a total of 112 interviews and research undertaken from May to October last year.

Children are not only in danger of gangs, but of vigilantes and police officers who believe they’re working for them, according to Amnesty International.

Girls and young women have also been collectively raped by gang members, often infected with sexually transmitted disease and/or made pregnant in a country where healthcare is extremely limited.

One teenager was raped by six men, her sister by five.

Another teen recounted how she drank bleach to try and kill herself after giving birth following rape by three men, who then left her naked in public.

Amnesty International said many of those interviewed “scoffed at the idea of reporting their attacks to authorities.”

The organisation called on the Haitian government to better support children, restore education, provide mental health services, and resume court proceedings against children suspected of ties to gangs who are being held without charge.

The report said: “The country needs immediate and sustained technical and financial assistance to rescue a generation of boys and girls from being lost to repeated cycles of gang violence.”