PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — The United Nations has updated its report on a recent massacre in Haiti, revealing a harrowing toll where numerous elderly individuals and Vodou religious leaders were victims of a gang attack. The U.N. is imploring local authorities to ensure that those responsible face justice.
According to the U.N. Integrated Office in Haiti, the report released on Monday indicates that from December 6 to December 11, over 207 individuals lost their lives to the Wharf Jeremie gang. Victims were reportedly taken from their homes and places of worship, subjected to interrogation, and then executed—some by gunfire, others by machetes.
Earlier estimates from human rights organizations in Haiti had placed the death toll at over 100, but this fresh U.N. inquiry has significantly increased the number of known fatalities. “We cannot ignore the reality of what has transpired,” stated María Isabel Salvador, the special representative of the U.N. Secretary-General in Haiti.
Salvador urged the Haitian justice system to conduct a thorough investigation into these atrocities, calling for the arrest and punishment of not only the direct perpetrators but also those who aid them.
Human rights advocates in Haiti claimed that the violence was incited by the death of Micanor Altès’s son, who led the Wharf Jeremie gang. It is reported that Altès held local residents accountable for his son’s illness, leading him to exact brutal retribution on elderly citizens and Vodou practitioners—whom he believed could have cast spells against his child.
In the report, the United Nations detailed how gang members would track victims back to their residences and places of worship, interrogating them before transporting them to a location of execution. To cover their tracks, the gang attempted to destroy evidence, burning bodies or dismembering victims to dispose of them at sea.
This massacre underscores the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Haiti, where gang-related violence has surged following the assassination of the country’s president during a coup attempt in 2021.
Efforts to stabilize the nation and conduct elections to establish a democratic government have been stymied. Currently, Haiti is under the governance of a transitional council that includes individuals from various sectors, including business and civil society. Despite this, governance remains weak, as gangs vie for control over ports, highways, and various neighborhoods across the capital.
Furthermore, the United Nations has reported that over 5,350 lives have been claimed in gang conflicts throughout Haiti in the current year alone. The Haitian government acknowledged the recent massacre and labeled it as “unspeakable carnage,” pledging to hold accountable those responsible for these atrocities.
