At least 184 people, including 127 elderly men and women, were killed in Haiti’s Wharf Jérémie neighbourhood of Cité Soleil over the weekend, prompting strong condemnation from Secretary-General António Guterres.
According to local reports, the elderly victims were massacred under the orders of a gang leader in the area who consulted a voodoo priest after his son fell ill and died, who pinned the blame for the mystery illness on elders using witchcraft.
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“The Secretary-General strongly condemns the continued gang violence and loss of life in Haiti,” said UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, conveying Mr. Guterres’s “deepest sympathy and condolences to the families of victims of this horrific act”.
The Secretary General also urged Haitian authorities to “conduct a thorough investigation and ensure that perpetrators of these and all the other human rights abuses and violations are brought to justice”.
International Support Boost
Mr. Guterres also emphasised the urgent need for international support calling all “Member States to provide Multinational Security Support mission the financial and logistical support required to successfully assist the Haitian National Police in addressing gang violence”.
UN human rights chief, Volker Türk also condemned the killings and highlighted the toll of gang-related violence which arose amid a political vaccum.
“Just this past weekend, at least 184 people were killed in violence orchestrated by the leader of a powerful gang in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, in the Cite Soleil area,” Volker Turk told reporters in Geneva. “These latest killings bring the death toll just this year in Haiti to a staggering 5,000 people.”
He called on governments to “stem the flow of arms into Haiti” as well Sudan and Myanmar.
