Haiti: UN says massacre ordered by gang leader

The massacre of more than 200 people in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince in December gave rise to a veritable “brutal manhunt” ordered by a gang leader and with victims taken from their homes to be executed, according to a UN report on Monday.

A total of 134 men and 73 women were killed between December 6 and 11 in Port-au-Prince, according to the report of the UN mission in Haiti (Binuh) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Human Rights (OHCHR).

The majority of victims “were elderly people accused of practicing voodoo and of having allegedly caused the child's illness” of Micanor Altes, leader of the Wharf Jérémie gang, with some 300 members, according to the text.

“Brutal manhunt”

“On the evening of December 6, he ordered his gang members to carry out a brutal manhunt. The latter burst into around ten alleys in the neighborhood and forcibly took the victims out of their homes,” according to the UN.

“They were taken to the gang's stronghold where they were held captive and interrogated (…) They were then taken to a nearby execution site, before being shot or killed with machetes. The gang attempted to erase all evidence by burning the bodies, or dismembering them, and then throwing them into the sea, according to the report.

“The other victims were family members of the elderly who attempted to flee the area, or individuals suspected of leaking information about these crimes to local media,” the report added.

More than 5,000 people killed in 2024

“We cannot pretend that nothing has happened. I call on Haitian justice to conduct a thorough investigation into these horrible crimes and to arrest and punish their perpetrators,” says Maria Isabel Salvador, the special representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations in Haiti, stressing that these crimes target “the most vulnerable populations. more vulnerable.

Gang violence, already endemic in Haiti, has been worsening for months. Murders, rapes, looting and kidnappings for ransom are intensifying. “Since the start of 2024, (…) more than 5,350 people have been killed and more than 2,155 others injured,” the report said on Monday.

Of African origin and pillar of the country's culture, voodoo arrived in Haiti with African slaves. It had been banned during French colonial occupation (independence in 1804) and was only recognized as an official religion by the government in 2003.

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