At least 110 people, mostly elderly, have been killed by gang members in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince.
The National Human Rights Defence Network (RNDDH) reports that the killings were orchestrated by a local gang leader, Monel Felix, also known as Mikano. He accused elderly residents of practising “witchcraft” that he believed caused the death of his son from an unknown illness.
The attacks occurred over the weekend in the Cité Soleil area, where gang members dragged elderly people from their homes and killed them with knives, machetes, and firearms.
Many victims’ bodies were mutilated and burned in the streets, with some younger residents killed while trying to protect the elderly.
The United Nations reported 184 deaths from the violence, part of a larger gang crisis that has led to 5,000 deaths in Haiti this year.
Mikano, the leader of a gang controlling the Wharf Jérémie area, reportedly blocked residents from fleeing, preventing the news of the massacre from spreading quickly. His gang is part of the Viv Ansanm alliance, which controls much of Port-au-Prince.
Haiti has been overwhelmed by gang violence since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021, with criminal groups now controlling 85% of the capital.
Despite efforts by the Kenyan-led Multinational Security Support Mission to restore order, progress has been slow due to a lack of funding and resources.
The violence has displaced over 700,000 people, half of them children, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
Human rights groups are calling for urgent international intervention, highlighting the widespread use of sexual violence by gangs. Meanwhile, efforts to organise elections and restore democratic governance have stalled, plunging the country into further chaos.
