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  • February 18, 2025
Gang leader in Haiti is accused of slaughtering elderly people to avenge the death of his son

Gang leader in Haiti is accused of slaughtering elderly people to avenge the death of his son

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A gang leader controls a major port The capital of Haiti is accused of massacring elders and Vodou religious leaders in his community to avenge the death of his son, according to government and human rights groups who estimate more than 100 deaths.

Reports on the number of deaths in Port-au-Prince can vary greatly in a country where such killings often take place in gang-controlled, largely inaccessible areas.

The Haitian government acknowledged the massacre in a statement on Monday, saying more than 100 people were killed in the Cité Soleil neighborhood and vowing to bring those responsible for “this unspeakable massacre” to justice.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the ongoing violence, in which “at least 184 people, including 127 elderly men and women, were killed in the Wharf Jérémie neighborhood of Cite Soleil between December 6 and 8,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. The UN did not respond to questions about how it arrived at these figures.

Guterres called on Haitian authorities to conduct a thorough investigation and ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice for this murder and all other human rights violations, Dujarric said.

Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, told journalists earlier Monday that at least 184 people had been killed by a powerful gang leader.

Haitian watchdogs also estimate more than 100 deaths, sometimes citing community residents.

The Cooperative for Peace and Development, a local rights group, said in a statement Sunday that its monitoring unit determined on Sunday that about 20 elderly people had been killed. But it noted that unidentified residents of the community controlled by gang leader Micanor Altès, also known as Monel Felix and Wa Mikanò, claimed there were more than 100 victims.

The National Human Rights Defense Network, another local rights group, said at least 110 people were killed between Friday and Saturday. The group and its executive director, Pierre Espérance, did not say where they obtained that information, and Espérance did not return requests for comment.

The murky information was a worrying sign in a country gripped by widespread gang violence.

“The fact that we have so many doubts about what happened days after the massacre is a clear signal of how much control (gangs) have over the population,” said Diego Da Rin, an analyst at the International Crisis Group.

The accused gang leader controls the coastal communities of Wharf Jérémie, La Saline and Fort Dimanche and was known for theft, extortion and hijacking of goods and trucks, according to a UN report earlier this year.

“Micanor was not known to be brutal like other gang leaders,” Da Rin said. “Not yet.”

The gang leader could not be reached for comment and did not post a message on social media. A spokesperson for Haiti’s National Police did not return a message seeking comment.

The National Human Rights Defense Network said the massacre occurred because the gang leader’s child was seriously ill, prompting him to seek advice from a Vodou priest. After his son died, he accused older people in the community “of practicing witchcraft and harming the child.”

The Cooperative for Peace and Development said that, according to information circulating in the community, Micanor accused people in the neighborhood of causing his son’s illness.

“He decided to cruelly punish all elders and (Vodou) practitioners who, in his imagination, would be able to cast an evil spell on his son,” the group said.

It said armed men rounded up known community leaders and took them to the gang leader’s stronghold, where they were executed. Motorcyclists who tried to save some victims were also killed.

The group also noted that there is a ban on people leaving the community “continuing to identify (Vodou) practitioners and elders for the purpose of carrying out the silent murder.”

Da Rin noted that killings in Haiti are typically documented and posted on social media, although they can be difficult to verify. “In this case, there wasn’t even a message on WhatsApp or a video on TikTok, which is very unusual,” he said.

The Cooperative for Peace and Development said Micanor has previously targeted Vodou practitioners, killing a dozen elderly women and Vodou leaders “wrongly accused of witchcraft” in recent years.

It is not unusual for Haitians to seek medical and other advice of Vodou priests known as ‘oungans’. The religion that mixes Catholicism with animist beliefs was the basis of the revolution that led to Haiti becoming the world’s first free black republic in 1804.

The massacre in Port-au-Prince comes two months after more than seventy people were killed were killed in the central city of Pont-Sondéwhere gangs compete to control more territory.

Such killings have overwhelmed Haiti’s National Police and a U.N.-backed mission led by the cash- and staff-less Kenyan police, while the U.S. and other countries pushing for a UN peacekeeping mission.

“The crisis in Haiti has reached catastrophic levels, with allied criminal groups intensifying large-scale, coordinated attacks on the population and key state infrastructure,” Human Rights Watch said on Monday as it called for a UN mission.

It noted that “many Haitians live in constant fear of being killed, raped, kidnapped or forcibly recruited as they struggle every day to find enough food, water and health care to survive.”

More than 4,500 people have died in Haiti this year, according to the UN