At least 184 people have been killed in Cite Soleil, one of the poorest neighborhoods of Haiti’s capital of Port-au-Prince.
Human rights groups have attributed the tragedy to a personal vendetta by a local gang leader, with gang members burning the bodies and throwing them into the sea.
Two local human rights groups have stated that Wharf Jeremie gang leader Jean Monel Felix, known as “King Micanor”, ordered the massacre after his child became sick, upon seeking advice from a voodoo priest who accused elderly people in the area of using witchcraft to harm the child.
The child died on Saturday afternoon.
Gang members killed at least 60 people over on Friday and 50 on Saturday using machetes and knives. The majority of these victims were over the age of 60.
“The gang’s soldiers were responsible for identifying victims in their homes to take them to the chief’s stronghold to be executed,” the Haitian Committee for Peace and Development reported.
In Cite Soleil, gang control is so tight that mobile phone use has been restricted – thus limiting residents’ capacity to report the killings.
King Micanor’s gang is said to number about 300 people and activates between Port-au-Prince’s port and airport. He is allied to the Viv Ansanm gang coalition, led by a former policeman, Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier, that has taken over large parts of the capital and some rural areas in a coordinated offensive that began in February.
Haitian National Police has not responded to a request for comment.
5,000 people have been killed in Haiti in the last year.
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