By Armando Hernandez
Dec 25, 2024, 7:54 PM EST
A report from the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights indicates that Between December 6 and 11, 134 men and 73 women were murdered.
Just over two weeks after violence broke out in the Cité Soleil district of Port-au-Prince, a report from the The UN concluded that more than 207 people were executed by the gang in the town of Wharf Jérémie, west of the Haitian capital.
Most of the victims were elderly people accused of practicing voodoo and being the cause of the gang leader’s son’s illness.
Other victims included people who tried to flee the area for fear of reprisals or who were suspected of leaking information about the crimes to local media.
They were then taken to a place of execution to be shot or hacked to death. “The gang tried to eliminate all evidence by burning the bodies and dismembering them and throwing them into the sea”, notes the report.
“We cannot act as if nothing had happened,” declared the special representative of the Secretary General in Haiti, María Isabel Salvador.
“I urge the Haitian justice system to conduct a thorough investigation into these horrific crimes and arrest and punish their perpetrators, as well as those who support them. I also urge the authorities to quickly create a specialized judicial unit to deal with this type of crime,” he emphasized.
Alarming violence
From 2022, the Wharf Jérémie gang faces rival gangs for control of the roads leading to the capital’s main port and its container terminal.
This year alone, BINUH and the Office of the High Commissioner They have recorded more than 5,350 people killed and more than 2,155 injured as a direct result of these acts of violence.
In addition, the gang leader charges “taxes” to the consortium that manages the port, especially for the release of containers, as well as to the trucking companies that transport goods from the port.
It has also positioned itself as a key intermediary for national and international actors seeking access to local populations living in Wharf Jérémie.
The crimes documented at the Jérémie dock occur in an alarming context of violence and human rights violations in Haiti, involving criminal gangs, vigilante groups, and individuals in the population who do not belong to any organization.
Credible sources also suggest the involvement of specialized units of the Haitian National Police, according to the report.
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