Haiti was hit by a brutal wave of violence over the weekend, reportedly targeting voodoo followers, leaving more than 180 people dead. The violence in Port-au-Prince is directed by an influential gang leader who holds followers of the religion responsible for his son’s illness, according to the Council for Peace and Development (CPD).
UN Secretary-General António Guterres rejected the “horrible” violence and his spokesman confirmed at least 184 casualties, including 127 elderly people.
The United Nations and CPD confirmed that the killings took place in Cité Soleil, a district on the west coast of the capital.
The Haiti-based group said in a statement that the gang leader “decided to brutally punish all elderly and voodoo practitioners who, in his imagination, had the power to bring bad luck to his son.”
A local resident confirmed the attack in an interview with AFP and confirmed that his 76-year-old father was among the victims. “The gangsters set fire to his body. Since we were unable to recover the body, the family could not even organize a burial for him,” he said, expressing concern for the safety of other family members.
“I also fear for their lives,” he said. “I will try my best to get them out,” he added.
The incident marked another episode of extreme brutality in the capital, which is largely controlled by powerful gangs in a Caribbean nation long rocked by political unrest and natural disasters.
“Soldiers from the gang were responsible for identifying the victims at their homes and taking them to the chief’s stronghold for execution,” the Council for Peace and Development (CPD) said.
They added: “Reliable sources within the community claim that more than a hundred people were massacred and their bodies dismembered and burned in the streets.”
Fritzner Pierre, a prominent figure in the group, told Radio Magik 9 that casualty figures were incomplete due to the lack of transportation in the area.
According to him, from Friday night to Saturday, the militants targeted elderly residents and voodoo practitioners in the Jeremy Quay area of Cité Soleil.
“Motorcycle taxi drivers who tried to escape with targeted people were also executed,” he said.
Voodoo was introduced to Haiti by enslaved Africans and remains an integral part of the country’s cultural identity. It was banned during French colonial rule but was officially recognized as a religion by the Haitian government in 2003.
Haiti’s long-standing instability intensified further in February this year when armed groups launched coordinated attacks in the capital aimed at overthrowing then-Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
Armed groups now control 80% of the city. Violence has increased despite the presence of a Kenyan-led police mission backed by the United States and the United Nations.
Antonio Guterres urged authorities to launch a full investigation into the weekend attacks while stressing the need for increased international aid and support for Haitian police in their fight against armed groups.
The International Organization for Migration reports that there are more than 700,000 internally displaced people in Haiti, half of them children, and another 5,000 people have been displaced by recent weekend violence.
The recent casualties bring Haiti’s death toll this year to about 5,000, according to the United Nations.
