The United Nations has confirmed at least 180 people have been killed in gang violence in Haiti.
The majority of those killed were over the age of 60.
The killings were reportedly incited by a local gang leader who believed his son’s recent death was caused by followers of the Haitian Vodou religion.
Haiti
Haiti is a Caribbean country that shares a border with the Dominican Republic. Its capital is Port-au-Prince.
Haiti’s economic and social development have been impacted by several decades of political and institutional instability, violence, and natural disasters.
This year, escalating gang violence has killed thousands and forced hundreds of thousands of people in Haiti from their homes. An alliance of gangs now controls most of Port-au-Prince.
Haitian Vodou
Haitian Vodou is a religion that combines West African traditions with elements of Catholicism.
It developed in its modern form among slaves who were forcibly transported to Haiti from West African countries from the 16th to 19th centuries.
Further, the practice of Vodou played a large role in Haiti’s war for independence from France throughout the late 1700s and early 1800s.
It’s still widely practised in Haiti today.
Gang violence
According to the Haiti Committee for Peace and Development (CPD) and the Haitian Government, the massacre was ordered by a gang leader named Micanor.
His gang has influence and control over the Port-au-Prince neighbourhood Wharf Jérémie.
CPD then said after Micanor’s child fell ill and died, he became convinced “all elderly people and Vodou practitioners” were responsible.
He then ordered gang members to kill them.
Younger people (such as motorists and taxi drivers) who tried to help elderly people being targeted were also killed.
Due to the gang’s control over Wharf Jérémie, residents have been prohibited from leaving the area, according to the CPD.
It’s also been reported that phone usage has been limited by gangs in the area.
Witnesses told Reuters that “bodies were burned in the streets”.
Response
The Prime Minister’s Office described the massacre as “unbearable cruelty”. In a statement, it said it will “bring to justice the perpetrators and accomplices”.
In a follow-up statement, it said: “A red line has been crossed, and the State will mobilize all its forces to trackdown and annihilate these criminals.”
Additionally, UN Secretary General António Guterres has condemned the violence.
