Gang leader in Haiti accused of massacring older people to avenge son's death
CTV
A gang leader who controls a key port in Haiti's capital is accused of massacring older people and Vodou religious leaders in his community to avenge his son's death, according to the government and human rights organizations that estimate more than 100 killed.
A gang leader who controls a key port in Haiti's capital is accused of massacring older people and Vodou religious leaders in his community to avenge his son's death, according to the government and human rights organizations that estimate more than 100 killed.
Reports on the number of dead in Port-au-Prince can vary wildly in a country where such killings often occur in gang-controlled, largely inaccessible areas.
Haiti’s government in a statement Monday acknowledged the massacre, saying over 100 were killed in the Cité Soleil neighborhood, and promised to bring to justice those responsible for “this unspeakable carnage.”
UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the ongoing violence, which saw the killing of “at least 184 people, including 127 elderly men and women, between December 6-8 in the Wharf Jérémie neighborhood of Cite Soleil,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. The UN did not respond to queries on how it obtained those figures.
Guterres called on Haitian authorities to conduct a thorough investigation and ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice for this killing and all other human rights abuses and violations, Dujarric said.
Volker Türk, the UN high commissioner for human rights, told journalists earlier Monday that at least 184 people were killed by a powerful gang leader. Haitian watchdogs also estimated more than 100 were killed, at times citing community residents.
The Cooperative for Peace and Development, a local rights group, said in a statement Sunday its monitoring unit found that around 20 older people were killed. But it noted that unidentified residents in the community controlled by gang leader Micanor Altès, also known as Monel Felix and Wa Mikanò, claimed there were more than 100 victims.
