A/HRC/4/3 page 11 C. Increase in organized violent crime 21. After a marked improvement, a new and serious deterioration in the situation began in the autumn of 2006, characterized not only by the worrying increase in ordinary crimes (robbery with assault, burglary, particularly armed robbery and burglary) but, especially, by an unprecedented wave of murders and kidnappings, in particular during the last quarter of 2006. 1. Increase in the number of murders 22. In the absence of reliable statistics (since statistics are often incomplete and sometimes even contradictory), only estimations can be made and trends observed. Between January and November 2006, the NGO National Human Rights Defence Network estimates, on the basis of Haiti State University Hospital records, that some 721 individuals were murdered, including 28 police officers and 4 United Nations peacekeepers. 23. The Justice and Peace Commission estimates that there were 370 deaths in the metropolitan area between January and September 2006. The figures for the period from October to December (not yet published) are expected to be significantly higher because of the upsurge in violence during the last quarter and will therefore come close to the figures cited by the National Human Rights Defence Network. 24. MINUSTAH estimates the number of victims at around 629 “civilians” and 33 officers of the Haitian National Police which, as at mid-December 2006 brought the total number of victims to 662. 25. In the light of the above, and despite the reservations that can be made concerning the accuracy of the aforementioned statistics, the statistics show that there was an almost unprecedented deterioration in the situation in 2006, with an average of between 600 and 700 violent deaths, an estimate not easily challenged. 26. This statistical estimate is particularly regrettable since it leaves the figures open to disturbing manipulations. 27. Bearing in mind the scale and inaccuracy of these data, the reaction of MINUSTAH is particularly striking, since it considers that the number of murders - which it puts at 2,000 - has been “overestimated”. At the same time, MINUSTAH points out that no murder, rape or kidnapping has been attributed by the study to supporters of Jean-Bertrand Aristide. A member of the Haiti Support Group (United Kingdom) has raised doubts about the objectivity of this inquiry by stating in The Lancet that one of the researchers and co-authors of the study was a friend of Jean-Bertrand Aristide. 28. It has since been revealed that the person in question had been a friend of President Aristide and became a member of his entourage under a false name, which cast doubt on her objectivity, not to mention her impartiality. As The Lancet had decided to conduct an investigation to clear up the matter, the independent expert, in view of the prestige of this