At least 110 people lost their lives over the weekend in one of the poorest neighborhoods of Haiti’s capital, according to the National Human Rights Defence Network (RNDDH). The organization attributed the violence to a personal vendetta by local gang leader Monel “Mikano” Felix.
The massacre occurred in the heavily populated slum of Cite Soleil in Port-au-Prince, after Felix’s child fell ill. Witnesses said Felix sought the help of a Voodoo priest who accused older residents of using witchcraft against the child, who died on Saturday afternoon.
The gang members attacked the community, killing at least 60 people on Friday and another 50 on Saturday, mainly with machetes and knives. RNDDH said all of the victims were over the age of 60 years.
Cite Soleil is one of the poorest communities in Haiti, characterized by high levels of violence, with the gangsters controlling the residents so tightly that they are even limiting the people’s use of mobile phones to communicate about incidents of violence.
The United Nations estimated in October that Felix’s gang has about 300 members operating around Fort Dimanche and La Saline. La Saline was the site of a massacre in November 2018, when at least 71 civilians were killed and many homes destroyed.
The government of Haiti cannot get a handle on the growing army of armed gangs in and around the capital due to political strife. In 2022, local authorities officially called for international security help for the police. So far, only partial deployment of the UN-approved mission of voluntary contributions has taken place, and it remains grossly under-resourced.
Calls by Haitian leaders to transform this mission into a UN peacekeeping force for better resource allocation have stalled due to opposition from China and Russia in the Security Council.
At least 4,500 people have been killed in Haiti so far this year, according to UN reports. The IOM said nearly 41,000 people had been displaced in the past two weeks alone, adding to a total of more than 700,000 people forced from their homes by ongoing fighting in the country.
