Haiti: Gang leader orders massacre of people over 60 over magic allegations

An armed gang has murdered more than 100 people in Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince, according to human rights organizations and media reports. According to a statement from the Committee for Peace and Development, it appears to be an act of revenge by a gang boss. He blamed followers of the voodoo cult for the death of his son. The massacre was confirmed by a local resident.

According to the statement, the bloodbath took place on Friday and Saturday in Wharf Jeremie, part of Cité Soleil, the most notorious slum in the capital of the Caribbean country. The majority of the victims were women and men over 60 years old, whose bodies were mutilated and burned in the street.

According to the information, a son of gang boss Monel Felix, alias Micanord, died of a mysterious illness. The gang boss then accused the people in the area of ​​having bewitched his son and decided to punish all older people and voodoo followers for it. The Voodoo cult, which has its origins in West Africa, is a recognized religion in Haiti.

Haiti, which shares the Caribbean island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic, is the poorest country on the American continent. For years it has suffered from violence by heavily armed gangs, which largely have the capital under their control. Police officers sent from Kenya as part of a multinational protection force have so far been able to achieve little. In November, two US airline passenger planes were shot at in Port-au-Prince.