{"id":191702,"date":"2024-12-09T20:00:27","date_gmt":"2024-12-09T20:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/12\/09\/haiti-gang-massacres-around-180-people-over-witchcraft-fears\/"},"modified":"2024-12-09T20:00:27","modified_gmt":"2024-12-09T20:00:27","slug":"haiti-gang-massacres-around-180-people-over-witchcraft-fears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/12\/09\/haiti-gang-massacres-around-180-people-over-witchcraft-fears\/","title":{"rendered":"Haiti gang ‘massacres around 180 people over witchcraft fears’"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Haiti<\/div>


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Around 180 mostly elderly people have been killed in Haiti after they were reportedly suspected of witchcraft.<\/p>\n

Gang leader Monel “Mikano” Felix ordered the massacre in Cite Soleil – a densely populated slum in the capital Port-au-Prince – after his child became unwell, according to the National Human Rights Defence Network (RNDDH).<\/p>\n

The boss of the Wharf Jeremie gang sought advice from a voodoo priest who accused older residents in the area of using witchcraft to harm the youngster who died on Saturday afternoon, the non-governmental organisation said.<\/p>\n

At least 60 people were killed on Friday and 50 on Saturday in attacks involving machetes and knives, while all the victims were aged over 60, said the RNDDH.<\/p>\n

The total number killed increased to around 180 on Monday, following a statement from the Haitian prime minister’s office.<\/p>\n

“A red line has been crossed,” it said, adding it would “mobilise all forces to track down and annihilate” those responsible, including Felix, whom it accused of planning the attack.<\/p>\n

RNDDH reported accounts from witnesses who said “mutilated bodies were burned in the streets, including several young individuals who were killed attempting to save residents”.<\/p>\n

Cite Soleil, in the port area of Port-au-Prince, is among the poorest and most violent parts of Haiti<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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Tight gang control, including the restriction of mobile phone use, has limited residents’ ability to share information about the massacre.<\/p>\n

The government, struck by political infighting, has struggled to contain armed gangs’ growing power in and around the capital.<\/p>\n

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\n People have resorted to creating burning barricades to deter gang members from entering their neighbourhoods. File pic: AP
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In October, at least 115 people were massacred in Pont-Sonde<\/a><\/strong>, a town around 60 miles north of Port-au-Prince.<\/p>\n

The Gran Grif gang claimed it was retaliation for residents working with a self-defence group which was hindering their operations to secure money through road tolls.<\/p>\n

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\n Kenyan police have been deployed to boost security but are severely under-resourced. File pic: Reuters
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The United Nations recently estimated around 300 people operated within Felix’s gang around nearby Fort Dimanche and La Saline areas of the capital.<\/p>\n

In November 2018, La Saline was the site of the massacre of at least 71 civilians, while hundreds of homes were set on fire.<\/p>\n

Read more from Sky News:
How rebels overthrew Assad’s regime<\/a>
UK reduces support for Georgia<\/a>
Arrest over killing of US healthcare boss<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Haiti’s authorities have requested international support to bolster security but the United Nations mission, led by the Kenyan police, is severely under-resourced.<\/p>\n

Local leaders have since called for the mission to be converted into a UN peacekeeping force, but the plan was opposed by China and Russia in the Security Council.<\/p>\n

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Volker Turk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, gave a higher figure for the number killed in Cite Soleil, suggesting 184 people had died over the weekend.<\/p>\n

“These latest killings bring the death toll just this year in Haiti to a staggering 5,000 people,” he added.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n


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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Around 180 mostly elderly people have been killed in Haiti after they were reportedly suspected of witchcraft. Gang leader Monel “Mikano” Felix ordered the massacre in Cite Soleil – a densely populated slum in the capital Port-au-Prince – after his child became unwell, according to the National Human Rights Defence Network (RNDDH). The boss of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":191703,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/24\/12\/768x432\/skynews-haiti-gang_6771636.png?20241209161829","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2622,6268,1418,150231,124,108406],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191702"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191702"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191702\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":191704,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191702\/revisions\/191704"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/191703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}