MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

At least 110 massacred by Haitian rebel gangs

The victims were held responsible for allegedly causing a gang leader's son to get ill through witchcraft

At least 110 people, all of them aged over 60, were slaughtered by rebel gangs in the Haitian town of Cite Soleil, not far from Port-au-Prince, which is one of the poorest and most violent areas in the Caribbean country. According to the National Network for the Defense of Human Rights (Rnddh) report released Sunday, the Viv Ansanm gang killed with machetes and bladed weapons at least 60 people on Friday and 50 on Saturday.

The gang's leader Monel “Mikano” Felix deemed the victims responsible for his son's illness through witchcraft. Felix, was in 2022 banned from entering the neighboring Dominican Republic. The tight control by criminal gangs in the area, including the restriction of the use of cell phones, limited the ability of residents to share information about the massacre. Cite Soleil is a densely populated slum by the port of the capital Port-au-Prince.

As violence mounts in Haiti, the future of the 2,500-strong Kenya-led Haiti United Nations mission hangs in the balance. Last week, Port-au-Prince witnessed heavy gunfire, with gangs controlling over 85% of the country's capital.

In addition to the Kenyan troops, law enforcement officers from the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin, Chad, and Jamaica are participating in the global effort to neutralize the rebels. Despite initial positives during the early stages of the mission, the gangs are fighting back with unprecedented aggression.

Mission Chief Godfrey Otunge warned the gangs: “Either you surrender … or we are coming for you.“ Some 4500 people have been killed this year, with a further 2060 injured, according to the UN. In a push for more control over the city, gangs have resorted to burning and pillaging communities, leading to the displacement of over 700,000 people in recent years.

Last Friday, Otunge addressed rumors that senior police officers were willing to leave the country due to pay delays. ”There have been reports alleging dissatisfaction among MSS personnel deployed in Haiti,“ he said in a statement. ”The MSS categorically refutes these reports, the information being disseminated is both inaccurate and malicious.”