• Haiti

Port-au-Prince, Dec 9 (EFE) –

At least 180 people were killed in Haiti over the weekend in actions orchestrated by the leader of a criminal gang operating in Port-au-Prince, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Monday.

“Just this past weekend, at least 184 people were killed in violence orchestrated by the leader of a powerful gang in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, in the Cité Soleil area,” Volker Türk told a news conference in Geneva to mark International Human Rights Day, which is observed every year on Dec.10.

The crimes took place in Warf Jeremie, a coastal sector of Cité Soleil, one of the poorest and most violent suburbs of Port-au-Prince, controlled by the armed gang Viv Ansamm, led by Mikanor Altes, alias ‘Wa Mikano’ and also known as Monel Felix.

The gang leader, who believed that witchcraft had caused his son’s illness, ordered the killing of elderly people on the advice of a voodoo priest, the non-profit organization Combité pour la Paix et le Développement (CDP-Haiti) said in a statement.

Despite the massacre, the child died on Sunday afternoon, CDP added.

There has been no official confirmation so far of this case of extreme violence in Haiti, a country facing a deep and prolonged crisis and where the authorities do not control the entire territory.

According to the NGO, there is panic in the area where the mass killings took place between Thursday and Saturday.

These killings bring the total number of people killed in Haiti’s chaos and violence to 5,000, according to data verified by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

“We need to stem the flow of arms into Haiti,” Türk said.

Criminal groups control more than 80 percent of the capital and its surroundings, while the police and the UN stabilization mission lack the resources to restore order and security.

Although fighting between the groups has decreased in 2024, there has been an increase in attacks against the population, law enforcement, and the country’s vital infrastructure, as well as a widespread increase in sexual violence.

Haiti is the poorest country in the Americas and some 5.4 million people (half the population) suffer from acute hunger. EFE

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