A new massacre took place in Haiti, the second in the space of two months after that of Pont-Sondé. This time, it is the Cité Soleil district, on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince, which is paying a very heavy price. At least 184 dead, according to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
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It is in the Cité Soleil district, a disadvantaged town and very often described as the largest slum inHaitithat the massacre took place which cost the lives of 184 people. Populated by around 300,000 inhabitants, this area is under the control of the Vivre Ensemble coalition. And it was the self-proclaimed leader of one of these armed groups, Monel Felix, who ordered this massacre of incredible violence. According to sources from the Committee for Peace and Development, a NGO Haitian who has several relays on site, the son of Monel Felix fell ill.
The leader would not have tolerated this and came to accuse the elderly of Cité Soleil and the practitioners of the voodoo cult. “ He decided to cruelly punish all the elderly people and voodoo practitioners who, in his imagination, would be capable of casting a bad spell on his son. », Explained the Haiti-based organization in a press release.
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So, the raid began in a community hall where every afternoon retirees play cards and dominoes. The gangs broke in and forced everyone to go to Monel Felix’s house where the executions began after dark. They continued for several days. The latest toll could rise further because according to information from the Peace Committee, 80 people are still being held there.
“ These latest murders bring the death toll in Haiti this year to a staggering 5,000 people. », Underlined Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Haiti has suffered for decades from chronic political instability and a security crisis linked to the presence of armed gangs accused of murders, kidnappings and large-scale sexual violence. But gang violence, already endemic in the Caribbean country, has worsened since February, when armed groups launched coordinated attacks in Port-au-Prince to oust then-Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
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