Massacre in Haiti’s capital leaves over 100 dead, rights group says

World
By Editor_1
A Kenyan police officer, part of a UN-backed multinational force, patrols a street in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. At least 110 people were killed in a massacre in one of the poorest neighbourhoods of Haiti’s capital, a leading human rights group said Sunday (December 8, 2024), describing the killings as the personal vendetta of a gang boss who had been told that witchcraft caused his son’s fatal illness -Odelyn Joseph/AP
By Frances Robles

MEXICO CITY – More than 100 people were killed in a massacre in one of the poorest neighbourhoods of Haiti’s capital, a leading human rights group said Sunday (8), describing the killings as the personal vendetta of a gang boss who had been told that witchcraft caused his son’s fatal illness.

At least 110 people were killed in the slaughter, which began Friday (6) in the Wharf Jeremie section of Cité Soleil, a sprawling slum in Port-au-Prince, according to the National Human Rights Defence Network (NHRDN), a civil rights group based in the capital. Older people who practised Vodou appeared to have been targeted, according to the group. That assessment was backed by another rights organization and a Cité Soleil resident.

Haiti has been convulsed by violence since early this year, when rival gangs banded together in an attack on government institutions, including police stations, prisons and hospitals.

The NHRDN said that one of the gang leaders, Monel Felix, ordered the killings in Wharf Jeremie after being told by a priest that voodoo was responsible for his son’s illness. The child died on Saturday (7) afternoon, according to the widely respected rights group.

The group said that Felix, who is also known as Micanor Altes and by the nickname King Micanor, had killed at least 60 people in Wharf Jeremie on Friday. On Saturday, he and his gang affiliates killed at least 50 more people, using machetes and knives, according to the rights organization, which said the vast majority of the victims were older than 60. The group did not say how it had obtained its information.

A resident of Cité Soleil, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution, said the killings began Friday night and targeted people who practice Vodou. In some homes, five or six people were killed, the resident said.

The Committee for Peace and Development, another Haitian civil organization, said the dead included some younger people, including several motorcycle taxi drivers who were gunned down while trying to save others.

Pierre Espérance, the executive director of the NHRDN, said the number of confirmed dead was likely to rise. “Community testimonies suggest that the actual death toll is much higher, as mutilated bodies were burned in the streets,” he said in a statement.

Felix could not be reached for comment, and there was no evidence that he had made any kind of public statement about the killings.

Wharf Jeremie is one of the most impenetrable gang strongholds in the capital, and police generally do not go there. The lack of a law enforcement presence delayed the reporting of the massacre, experts who were following the developments said.

Vodou, which originated in West Africa, is one of Haiti’s official religions. Its practitioners believe that all living things have spirits, including animals and plants. Brought to Haiti by slaves, Vodou, which is largely misunderstood in Western popular culture, coexists with Christianity as one of several recognized faiths.

The NHRDN said it was not the first time that Felix had been accused of killing older people who practice Vodou. He is believed to have been responsible for the killings in 2012 of 12 elderly female practitioners, the rights group said.

More than 4,500 people in Haiti have been killed this year and more than 700,000 displaced as a result of gang-related violence, according to the United Nations. In the spring, the gangs succeeded in forcing out a prime minister.

The bloodshed has continued despite the presence of a UN-backed police force, known as the Multinational Security Support Mission, which is composed largely of officers from Kenya.

Last month was a particularly deadly one in Haiti. Three US airliners were struck by gunfire while taking off or landing from Haiti’s main airport in Port-au-Prince.

The airport is still closed, and American Airlines decided it would not return to the country at least through next year, the Miami Herald reported.

With violence in Haiti surging, the United States has asked the United Nations to take over the security mission and turn it into an official peacekeeping operation. The change would allow for a steady supply of funding, personnel and equipment. Russia and China, which have veto power at the UN Security Council, have objected to the proposal.

The security mission recently announced that it had expanded its operations, opening a new base that will enable international police officers to work in more locations. The mission said it was committed to safeguarding critical infrastructure, reopening key national roads and creating a secure environment for national elections.

“We wish to call on gang leaders to surrender their weapons and turn themselves in, as their time is running out,” the mission said in a statement last week.

A spokesperson for the mission said he was not aware of the killings in Wharf Jeremie. A spokesperson for the Haitian National Police did not respond to requests for comment.

-New York Times

 

A Kenyan police officer patrols in Port-au-Prince, Haiti October 3, 2024. – At least 110 people were killed in a massacre in one of the poorest neighbourhoods of Haiti’s capital, a leading human rights group said Sunday (8), describing the killings as the personal vendetta of a gang boss who had been told that witchcraft caused his son’s fatal illness -Jean Feguens Regala/Reuters/File

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